Hong Kong retailers reported disappointing sales during the Labor Day Golden Week peak travel period, signaling that the much-touted financial windfall from tourists is diminishing.

The number of mainland visitors to the city increased only marginally in the past week, falling short of the 420,000 forecast by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Immigration Department figures show that 359,963 mainlanders visited Hong Kong during the eight days to Saturday, representing a slight increase of 3.5 percent compared with 347,718 visitors in the same period last year. Total arrivals (including mainlanders) increased 2.5 percent to 2.18 million.

The number of mainland tourists fell short of the 10-day projection - from April 29 - made by the Tourism Board.

Home appliances and electronics retailer Citicall said sales fell 5 to 6 percent in the seven days to Friday, compared with the same period last year.

Citicall director Norman Tam said retailers had noticed that the benefits of Golden Week were "diminishing."

Tam said sales increased 10 to 20 percent over the Golden Week compared with other days, but that it was far lower than the 40 to 50 percent growth seen following the launch of the Individual Visit Scheme, first introduced in four Guangdong cities in 2003.

(Shenzhen Daily May 9, 2006)