When it comes to tourism, Hong Kong is recovering footfall faster than spending and officials need to realise that the two are not the same.

The city’s economy grew by 5.9 per cent year on year in the first three months, its strongest quarterly performance in almost five years, according to the Census and Statistics Department’s advance estimate. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po pointed to a 17 per cent rise in first-quarter visitor numbers and 5.2 per cent increase in retail and catering spending as evidence of stronger momentum. During the “golden week” holiday, Hong Kong received 1.01 million mainland visitors, 10 per cent more than last year.

That is progress. It is not a return of the old tourism economy.

The same report carried a warning: spending was inconsistent. Some shopping centres reported double-digit growth, catering business in tourist areas rose by about 20 per cent, and hotel occupancy reached 90 per cent. Yet Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, said tourist consumption only benefited certain industries in traditional tourism districts, such as Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. More visitors did not translate into a broad retail revival.

Tse flagged a second pattern: overnight and long-distance travellers outspent day visitors who once formed the bulk of cross-border arrivals. That is the yield economy in miniature. Fewer, deeper visits create more value than dense, shallow ones, and current headline metrics do not separate the two.

Mainland visitors are travelling differently. They compare prices in real time, use digital platforms more efficiently, look for experiences rather than conventional shopping routes, and no longer rely on Hong Kong for goods they can access elsewhere. Researchers have urged the city to move beyond chasing arrival numbers and focus on raising spending per visitor, noting that mainland travellers have become more selective and value-conscious.