Since the Central Government resumed the “Multiple-Entry Individual Visit Scheme” for Shenzhen permanent residents, and expanded the arrangement to Shenzhen residence permit holders last year, the visa holders are allowed to visit Hong Kong more conveniently and freely without any restrictions on the number of visits. This new measure is expected to boost Hong Kong’s economy by attracting a larger number of tourists and stimulating consumption. It is also hoped that the policy will inject new impetus to the local tourism, retail and F&B industries. The local F&B industry should seize this opportunity by keeping up with the latest tourism trends and enhancing customer experience, service and offerings in order to attract more tourists and consumption.
2025 Keywords for Hong Kong Tourism
According to the latest research and data from Wisers and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Tourism, we can observe from the OTA platform such as travel forum and social media like Xiaohongshu, the changes in the focus of mainland tourists towards Hong Kong Tourism by integrating and analyzing the topics and keywords mentioned online. This data can help us understand and predict the major trends for tourism in Hong Kong in 2025. Below are the three keywords that are particularly noteworthy for the local F&B industry:
Free
The discussion volume for the term “Free” has reached 4 million times online in Chinese internet in 2024, which reflects a shift in the consumption attitudes of mainland travelers. They have become increasingly conservative in making purchase decisions and tend to seek free offers from stores or restaurants in order to reduce travel costs. Local restaurants can therefore adjust their sales strategy based on the new consumption habit and practice of the Mainland travellers by experimenting with various reward-based promotional campaigns so as to attract them. Examples include organizing free tasting and offering rewards upon making a certain number or amount of purchases. Such promotional activities not only cater to “consumption downgrade” travel strategy promoted by the mainland travellers, but also help attract repeat customers. Moreover, such promotional campaigns may encourage travelers even further to share these offers with friends and family, helping boost brand awareness and reputation.
Hong Kong Culture
Despite fewer online discussion volumes when compared to the term “Free”, “Hong Kong Culture” has gone viral on the Chinese internet too, reaching up to 100,000 times of discussions. As a special administrative region in China, Hong Kong has the distinctive edge of “having strong support from the motherland and being closely connected to the world” where Eastern and Western cultures are well blended, making it a prime location for holding international mega events. Additionally, Hong Kong has preserved its unique local culture in which dining and food culture has stood out as a food paradise, attracting tourists from around the globe for an unforgettable cuisine journey. If local restaurants can make good use of Hong Kong’s strength and inject new elements to the traditional food culture, they will be able to attract more tourists. Many local restaurants are therefore actively experimenting innovative cuisines that combine localness and innovative elements, such as Hong Kong-style milk tea egg waffles, mango sago flavoured pineapple buns, and citrus and honey flavoured doughnuts. These offerings perfectly blend various popular Hong Kong flavors with western food culture, providing travelers with a refreshing and unique taste experience.
District Tourism
Apart from “Free” and “Hong Kong Culture”, “District Tourism” is also noteworthy, with a volume of 22,000 mentions in 2024 online in China. This trend indicates that more and more Chinese tourists are interested in exploring the history, attractions and unique stores and restaurants of different districts in Hong Kong, looking for a more in-depth itinerary design and immersive experience of the authentic Hong Kong culture. Mr. Xia Baolong, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, has advocated the concept of "Tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong", in the hope of encouraging tourists to uncover the potential and uniqueness of Hong Kong’s 18 districts. The Hong Kong government has also rolled out a series of themed ‘City Walk” routes, such as Old Town Central. In addition, according to the “Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0”, the government will continue to enrich these "City Walk" routes and themes by incorporating elements and cuisines from local classic films to attract more tourists for an immersive experience in various districts.
Meanwhile, local restaurants should seize this opportunity by offering unique culinary experiences that highlight the uniqueness of different districts. This may encourage tourists to include certain restaurants in their "City Walk" itinerary. For instance, the world-famous Hong Kong movie, "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In", which features nostalgic street snacks and scenes of the peculiar Kowloon Walled City, has sparked a wave of nostalgia among the audiences and made Kowloon City a popular destination for "City Walk". Restaurants can take advantage of this momentum by launching related food experiences to attract tourists and stimulate spending.
Keep up with the Times by Undergoing Digital Transformation
In addition to understanding market trends and tourists’ travel patterns and spending habits, the local F&B industry has to keep up with the times by incorporating digital solutions for enhancing dining experience and service quality, ultimately retaining the interest of customers. For instance, restaurants can implement electronic ordering and payment systems at the frontline to improve the customer experience by reducing the risk of misunderstandings and disputes caused by language barriers. Additionally, restaurants can adopt POS systems to record daily sales data and utilize procurement and inventory management systems tailored for the F&B industry to enhance efficiency.
One notable example is FOODIVAL - Restaurant Procurement and Inventory Management System, which has received industry recognition for its comprehensive features and user-friendly interface design. This minimizes training time and allows users to easily manage daily tasks at restaurants. By leveraging various systems, restaurants can systematically manage procurement and inventory operations and significantly enhance cost control. This capability enables F&B operators to monitor the actual performance of different outlets, including procurement costs, ingredient costs, menu analysis and more, achieving "data-driven decision making” for formulating more suitable and targeted operational strategies, which contribute to sustainable business growth in the long run.
If you wish to improve the procurement and inventory management of your restaurants while strengthening cost control and boosting competitiveness, don’t hesitate to contact our system consultants for a free system consultation and demo session here!
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