Many Hong Kong residents these days may not feel like celebrating at all when the 25th anniversary of the city's return to Chinese rule is marked. This is due on the one hand to the efforts of the Chinese government to expand its influence in Hong Kong and to suppress the democracy movement, an effort that has been increasing for years. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the city hard and brought one of the pillars of its economy, tourism, to a virtual standstill.
Zero-COVID policy has devastating consequences
"Until 2019, Hong Kong was one of the world's most-visited cities," says Wolfgang Ehmann of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. However, due to strict pandemic travel restrictions, some of which are still in force, the sector collapsed completely.
In all of 2021, the official number of visitor arrivals was just 91,000, Ehmann said — compared with nearly 56 million in 2019. "This shows how devastating the consequences of the zero-COVID policy have been, and continue to be, for tourism in Hong Kong."
On Hong Kong's streets, the large number of lowered shutters, and closed stores and restaurants in the shopping centers, are proof of how badly the economy has been hit by the absence of visitors.