(Yicai) Sept. 13 -- The Hong Kong government is planning to spur the night time economy through a series of measures that it will unveil at a ceremony in West Kowloon tomorrow, Yicai learned from people familiar with the matter.

Once known as the “city that never sleeps” and “a shopper’s paradise,” Hong Kong is suffering from a drop in consumption as people go out less. During the pandemic, bars, restaurants and entertainment centers were closed, so people gradually developed the habit of staying at home at night, a Hong Konger told Yicai.

As a result, restaurants and bars are struggling. Turnover for dinner at Hong Kong restaurants plunged 30 percent in July and August from a year earlier, said Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association.

And the monthly revenue of bars in Hong Kong’s business district is still just 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, said Qian Junyong, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar & Club Association.

The Hong Kong Government is also in talks with developers about extending the opening hours at shopping malls. For example, several of Sun Hung Kai Properties’ malls will stay open until midnight over the eight-day public holiday, comprising the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, that falls at the end of the month and early October. They normally close at 9 p.m. People will also be given an additional five hours of free parking if they buy anything at the malls.

Chinachem Group is asking its mall to stay open later during the Central Market Music Festival. The mall will also co-host the International Oktoberfest and Night Market with the Hong Kong government in September. And the Lan Kwai Fong area in Central Hong Kong plans to offer evening discounts and DJ performances starting from September.

The exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar with the Chinese yuan has also become more favorable lately and more people are willing to cross over to Shenzhen on the mainland during the weekend and spend money there, the Hong Konger said.

This has resulted in more Hong Kongese traveling to the mainland. The number of Hong Kong tourists booking trips to Shenzhen on travel platform Trip.com soared three-and-a-half fold in July and August from a year earlier, and jumped 14 percent from the previous two months, according to Trip.com data.

Hotel bookings surged 30 percent in July and August year on year and 12 percent month on month, while entrance ticket sales soared five-and-a-half fold from a year earlier and more than doubled from May and June, the platform said.

The retreat of the night-time economy is also connected with the special administrative region’s stance on street food vendors. The Hong Kong government is no longer issuing hawker cards and if there are no new street food vendors, night markets such as Temple Street, Sai Yeung Cai Street and Moro Temple Street will completely disappear in 10 to 20 years, said Hu Enwei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies.

Editor: Kim Taylor