Hong Kong Retail Slow to Recover

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong's hard-luxury market saw only a partial rebound in June as the lack of tourism kept retail sales well below pre-pandemic levels.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts grew 32% year on year to HKD 3.31 billion ($452.7 million) but was still 42% lower than in the same month of 2019, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Monday. The increase was also weaker than May's 55% growth. Sales in all retail categories rose 6% year on year to HKD 28.07 billion ($3.61 billion) but were down 20% from two years earlier.Hong Kong - a key luxury destination for tourists - has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant border closures. The number of visitors to the municipality was down 58% year on year in June, and plummeted 99% for the first six months of the year, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board."Retail sales continued to increase in June over a year earlier as consumption demand revived further alongside the stable local epidemic and improved labor market situations," a government spokesperson said. "Yet, with incoming visitors remaining scant, retail sales stayed far below the prerecession level."However, the government plans to launch a consumption voucher scheme - a program to stimulate spending by offering citizens electronic vouchers worth HKD 5,000 ($644) - which should help support local spending and boost the retail sector, the spokesperson added.For the first six months of 2021, sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts jumped 34% year on year to HKD 18.73 billion ($2.41 billion). Revenue from all retail segments increased 8% to HKD 174.36 billion ($22.43 billion).Image: The Hong Kong skyline. (Flickr)