Hong Kong hotels, tourist-area eateries report brisk trade over Lunar New Year holiday

Hong Kong’s hotels and tourist-area restaurants reported robust business during the Lunar New Year holiday, even as a surge in outbound travel by residents underscored the city’s increasingly visitor-driven festival economy. An industry leader said the city had also seen more mainland tourists partly because of ongoing diplomatic tensions between China and Japan. Hongkongers were able to enjoy a nine-day holiday this year by taking two days of annual leave on February 16 and 20 on either side of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday and including the two weekends. Figures from the Immigration Department released on Thursday showed locals…