黃金週香港零售額11年來首次下降

Chinese tourists last week took scant notice of the turmoil enveloping Hong Kong as they flew there in droves to engage in a yearly ritual – holiday shopping.

上週，大羣中國內地遊客飛抵香港進行每年一度的黃金週購物，他們沒怎麼注意席捲香港的風波。

Despite the former British colony’s worst crisis in decades, Hong Kong was the most popular destination outside the mainland for Chinese tourists during the national holiday known as Golden Week, according to data from , China’s biggest travel website by user volume.

用戶數量最多的中國旅遊網站去哪兒()數據顯示，儘管這塊前英國殖民地發生了幾十年來最嚴重的危機，但香港仍是國慶黃金週期間中國內地遊客最喜歡去的旅遊目的地。

Many of the tourists came away with a new appreciation of political protest.

許多遊客離開時，對政治抗議產生了一種新的認識。

But any fears that democracy activism might infect Hong Kong’s mainland brethren appear exaggerated. The Golden Week visitors had clear priorities: democracy is fine, as long as it does not get in the way of designer handbags and cosmetics. But it did.

但對於香港民主活動精神可能感染內地同胞的擔憂似乎有些誇大。黃金週遊客心裏有着明確的重點：民主是不錯，只要它不影響他們購買名牌手提包和化妝品的話。但他們確實受了影響。

“Occupy Central [the name of the civil disobedience movement] was a disturbance to me and other tourists,” said Jane Luo, a graduate student in Shanghai who stayed in the Hong Kong neighbourhood of Mongkok for the holidays and found many of the stores closed.

來自上海的研究生Jane Luo說：“佔中行動（公民抗命運動的名稱）對我和其他遊客是一種干擾。”她在香港旺角度過黃金週，發現許多商店關門了。

“My first reaction was bewilderment.

“我的第一反應是困惑。”

I didn’t understand why they were taking to the streets. My second impression is that overall, they were quite peaceful in their protests . . . I don’t think witnessing Occupy Central will change the way I behave and think though.”

“我不明白他們爲何走上街頭。我的第二印象是，總體上他們的抗議是相當和平的……但我不認爲見證佔中行動會改變我的行爲和思維方式。”

The Golden Week holiday, which began on October 1, coincided with mass demonstrations against proposed electoral changes by Beijing that closed much of Hong Kong’s central business district.

始於10月1日的黃金週假期，恰好碰上香港發生反對北京方面制定的選舉改革方案的大規模示威，導致香港中心商業區的很大一部分店鋪停業。

Travel advice issued by the Chinese National Tourism Association on October 2 warned tour groups from going to the territory because of safety concerns.

出於安全方面的擔心，中國國家旅遊局(CNTA) 10月2日發佈了旅遊建議，警告旅遊團不要前往香港。

But this had little effect on Chinese shopaholics. The city is always the favoured destination of Chinese holiday tourists but this year’s numbers surged. Qunar said mainlanders using its service to visit Hong Kong had soared by 67 per cent. The tourism board registered 1,159,952 holiday visitors – an increase of 4.8 per cent from last year’s Golden Week, it said.

但這對中國內地的購物狂們幾乎毫無影響。香港歷來是中國節假日遊客最喜歡去的目的地，但今年的赴港人數大增。去哪兒網表示，利用該網站服務前往香港的內地旅遊人數猛增了67%。該網表示，黃金週期間，香港旅遊發展局的登記遊客數量達115.9952萬人，比去年同期增加了4.8%。

Before arriving, many Chinese tourists were unaware of the scale of the crisis because of a media blackout on the mainland.

由於中國當局不準境內媒體報道佔中活動，因此許多內地遊客在到達香港之前，根本不知道這場危機的規模有多大。

Another factor in the flood of visitors was that a large proportion had non-refundable flights. Beijing resident Stella Sun bought a discounted ticket in August and could not change it.

導致遊客潮水般涌入的另一項因素是，很高比例的遊客買的是不可退款的機票。北京居民Stella Sun於8月買了一張折扣機票，行程不能改動。

“My parents were concerned about my safety going there,” she said.

她說：“我爸媽擔心我去香港不安全。”

“But I felt things would be all right since Occupy Central is about expressing wishes for democracy, and tourists would not be targeted. My shopping plans were affected because a lot of the usual shopping areas were obstructed.”

“但我覺得行程會很順利，因爲佔中是爲了表達民主願望，不會把遊客當作目標。可由於很多通常的購物區進不去，我的購物計劃受到了影響。”

Those postings on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter that survived Beijing’s internet censors, portray the bewilderment among new arrivals.

在類似Twitter的中國微博網站新浪微博(Weibo)上，剛到香港的遊客們描述了自己的困惑。

“Is it safe to go to Stanley Bay or Harbour City tomorrow? Where are places I can shop?” said one posting on October 3 by “Flowers bloom for you”.

“鮮花爲你盛開”10月3日在新浪微博上寫道：“明天去赤柱灣(Stanley Bay)或海港城(Harbour City)會安全嗎？我在哪裏可以購物？”

Hong Kong easily beat Taipei, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok as the top Golden Week destination, according to Qunar. Its rival Ctrip, which is considered China’s leading travel website in terms of revenue, also had Hong Kong as the top overseas destination for mainlanders.

去哪兒網數據顯示，香港輕鬆擊敗臺北、首爾、吉隆坡和曼谷，成爲黃金週中國遊客的首選旅遊目的地。競爭對手攜程網(Ctrip)也表示，香港是中國內地人最喜歡的境外旅遊目的地。攜程網被認爲是中國營收額最高的旅遊網站。

Despite the influx of mainlanders wielding credit cards, the protests shuttered many businesses and Hong Kong witnessed the first drop in retail sales during Golden Week since 2003, according to an October 6 press release by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association.

香港零售管理協會(HKRMA) 10月6日的新聞發佈稿稱，儘管迎來了大量手持信用卡的內地遊客，但抗議導致很多商店關門，香港出現自2003年以來首次黃金週零售額下降。

Some sectors, such as watches and jewellery, and fashion and accessories, registered drops of up to 50 per cent.

有些行業，比如手錶及首飾、時裝及配飾，銷售額下降了至多50%。

Meanwhile, political tensions took a toll on other traditionally popular travel destinations for mainland tourists: Hanoi and Manila dropped out of the top 10 amid Chinese tensions with Beijing over maritime rights in the South China Sea.

另一方面，政治緊張也令傳統上頗受中國內地遊客青睞的其他旅遊目的地付出代價：在南中國海(South China Sea)海洋權益上與北京方面關係緊張的河內與馬尼拉，跌出了中國遊客最喜愛十大旅遊目的地排行榜。

Tokyo, which is also embroiled in a dispute with Beijing over maritime claims, fell from sixth to eighth place, according to Qunar data.

去哪兒網數據顯示，同樣在海洋權益問題上與北京方面存在糾紛的東京，在排行榜上從第6位跌至第8位。