Researchers have urged Hong Kong to shift its focus from boosting visitor numbers to increasing tourist spending, as mainland Chinese arrivals rebound but adopt more selective consumption habits.

Preliminary findings from a joint study by Hong Kong Polytechnic University and consultancy Think China, released on Tuesday, show mainland visitor arrivals have recovered to about 88 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2018.

However, high-income travellers are spending less and becoming more value-conscious.

“Visitors are coming back, but do they spend more?” said professor Kam Hung, the study’s principal investigator.

“We need to think beyond traffic … and have more conversion thinking.”

The findings are based on 3,209 valid responses from mainland visitors to Hong Kong and Macau, 60 per cent of whom (1,928) visited the city. Data was collected through a combination of online and on-site surveys.