Mainland tourists remain Hong Kong's biggest spenders

Continue spending despite China's economic slowdown.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board said the sums spent by big-spending, high-end tourists from the mainland was higher than the past quarter but the rate of increase is slowing down.

Much of Hong Kong’s appeal to mainland shoppers is the lower prices of luxury goods in the city. High-end brands often charge a 10% to 40% premium on goods sold on the mainland.

A visitor who spends HK$100,000 or more in a trip is defined as a super spender, according to HKTB.

According to its survey of mainland tourists leaving by air, spending slowed a bit at the end of last year, picked up slightly during the Lunar New Year and then slowed again.

"In the past few years, we have seen steep increases in spending. Although the increase has slowed a bit, in absolute terms, it's still up. The percentage is still very high compared with visitors from other regions," said Angela Chong, HKTB spokesperson.

The deceleration can be partly attributed to the slowing growth in the mainland economy and a ban on official spending on luxury items for gifting in October last year.