Hotels & Hospitality

As we step into the new year, the Hong Kong Government unveiled its ambitious 132-page Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0. This comprehensive plan aims to overcome the current challenges posed by economic slowdown, heightened competition, geopolitical tensions and recruitment difficulties. With the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders in implementing the Blueprint, the expected value added by the tourism industry is projected to rise by approximately 60% over the next 5 years, from HK$75.3 billion in 2023 to HK$120 billion. Employment in the sector is also set to rise significantly, with an estimated 44% increase over the same period, bringing the total to approximately 210,000 jobs (up from 145,600 in 2023). The overarching strategy for Hong Kong's tourism development over the next five years is to solidify its status as a world-class premier tourist destination. The Government will be implementing the following four key strategies to achieve this goal: promoting tourism through culture, sports, ecology, and mega events; attracting and broadening the inbound visitor market from a more diverse range of geographies; advancing smarter tourism; and enhancing service quality and infrastructure. The highlights of each strategy will be briefly summarized below.

At the beginning of 2023, our real estate subsector leaders shared their insights on what headwinds and tailwinds they expected for the industry in the coming year. As a follow-up retrospective, we asked the subsector leaders to take another look at what challenges or wins the real estate industry underwent over the last nine months, and what they expect from the rest of the year. These insights help us to determine impacts on our industry, practice, and most importantly, our clients.

The way in which tips are allocated in the hospitality, leisure and services sectors has long been a contentious issue. Under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 (the “Act”), which has just received Royal Assent and is likely to come into force in approximately one year, employers will be banned from withholding tips.