Originally Posted by
tauphi
The figures for HK are misleading. The 40% calculation is done using the first five months of 2023. The border between China and HK was only opened in February and Covid measures in HK weren't removed until March. You need to look at the numbers for April and May to get a better sense of where things are.
HK is suffering and will continue to suffer from being viewed by many potential tourists as just another Chinese city now. In addition, many people used HK as a gateway to the mainland even up to 2019 when making a business trip (although admittedly much less than in the early 2000's); they'd stop in HK for a few days before or after their trip to the mainland. Now, with business travel to China not really booming, I'd expect HK to suffer from this as well.
Japan is set up for a much stronger future as a tourist destination than either the mainland or HK.