HK retail rents drop on falling Chinese tourist numbers

Hong Kong

A DROP in Chinese tourist numbers is driving down shop rentals in Hong Kong, with vacancies increasing in the same prime areas that just three years ago pipped New York's Fifth Avenue to become the world's most expensive retail real estate.

Spooked by months of cross-border tensions and pro-democracy protests, tour groups visiting Hong Kong from China plunged about 80 per cent this month, dealing a blow to the retailers that had built their businesses around these mainland visitors' once insatiable demand.