by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:13 PM ET, Thu October 24, 2019
With protests now stretching into their 21st week, Hong Kong's hotel and retail businesses are fighting to survive and hotel room rates in the historically pricey city have reached record lows.
A new report from Bloomberg says some hotels are offering rates at one-quarter of what they once were.
Several tourists shared stories with the news organization of scoring record bargains in the city from hoteliers on the brink of collapse. For tourists who don't mind visiting amid the protests, the city has suddenly become a very affordable vacation.
Hong Kong's government meanwhile, has provided relief measures for everyone from the working class to first-time homebuyers, as well as a stimulus package for taxi drivers and travel agencies. But for some reason, retailers and hotels were not included in the government's support efforts, according to Bloomberg.
Between the protests and the U.S.-China trade war, Hong Kong's economy is expected to get worse before it gets better. Experts are predicting a recession for the third quarter and there's no talk of recovery anytime soon.
Arrivals to the destination fell 39 percent to 3.56 million visitors in August from one year earlier, according to Hong Kong Tourism Board data. Hotel room occupancy has taken a similarly significant nosedive, declining by about one-third to 66 percent in August.
Facing such significant declines, the hotel industry has asked scores of workers to take unpaid leaves. As much as 77 percent of the industry's workers have been presented with such a request. The city's restaurant and bar employees are faring no better. Unemployment in that sector is at a six-year high, Bloomberg reported.
In August, the United States Department of State updated its travel advisory for Hong Kong warning American citizens about potentially dangerous clashes between protestors and the local government. The State Department issued a Level 2 warning telling Americans to exercise increased caution when visiting Hong Kong due to civil unrest and organized protests that have taken place there since June.
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