Even the attendance at Disneyland was down: anything will do more for the economy of hong Kong, after more than two months of protests, pro-democracy, of which the last in date will take place on Sunday 11 August. Carrie Lam, the chief executive of hong Kong, was accused on Friday, the protesters of endangering the economy of the territory. The consequences could be worse than the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory Syndrome) in 2003 and the 2008 financial crisis, she warned, and “the economic recovery will take a very long time”.
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The territory of the south of China, international financial centre, is currently experiencing its most serious crisis political since its handover from London to Beijing in 1997. Several parades are planned Sunday.
bookings are down 50%
The private sector, especially the tourism industry begins to assess the impact on its accounts more than two months of protests, sometimes violent. The numbers are bad: in July, the occupancy rate of hotel rooms and the number of visitors dropped. Bookings of group visits declined 50%. “What’s happening in Hong Kong in recent months the economy and the local population in a worrying situation, indeed dangerous,” warned this week Edward Yau, the secretary of State for commerce and economic development of hong Kong.
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The tourism industry of the city is said to be “besieged”. “I think the situation is more serious”, said to AFP Jason Wong, chairman of the Board of the tourism industry of hong Kong. The impact is such that the travel agencies are beginning to consider placing employees on leave without pay to withstand the storm, he added. While the images of the confrontations between some protesters and the police in the streets of hong Kong have circulated in the world, the protesters have already warned that their mobilization would continue in August. Bookings for August and September have “dropped significantly,” said to AFP a spokesman for the Office of tourism of hong Kong. This climate suggests a continued downturn for the rest of the summer season, especially as several countries, including the United States, Australia and Japan, have issued warnings to travellers.
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Even Disneyland hong Kong acknowledges the shot. The CEO of Disney Bob Iger has acknowledged on Tuesday that the protests against the attendance of the park. “You’ll feel the effects in the results of the current quarter”, he said, “they have caused disturbances that have reduced the number of visitors”. The fall in arrivals to hong Kong also comes up against the full force of the airline’s hong kong-based Cathay Pacific, which has had to cancel flights this week due to a general strike.
in A crisis that adds to the slowdown caused by the trade war
experts say that the crisis aggravates economic slowdown that hong Kong was suffering already because of the trade war between the United States and China. The economic situation of the city was far from flourishing even before the protests began, the 4.6% growth dipping to 0.6 % in year-on-year in the first quarter, the worst quarterly performance in ten years. According to preliminary data, the second quarter has little to offer better prospects. The government still expects a growth of 2% to 3% this year but the forecasts of the big banks are more pessimistic.
The real impact of events on growth will not be known until later in the year, but for Martin Rasmussen, senior economist on China at Capital Economics, this crisis is going to weigh heavy. At the outset, the protesters were quite peaceful, as the contestation of the umbrellas of 2014,” he argued, “now, they become much more radical, we feel that the impact on the economy will be felt”.
