CITY FOOD MATTERS - HONG KONG

Hong Kong remains a premium business travel and MICE hub, but its post-2024 dining dynamics increasingly blend international consistency with nuanced local expression.

Business-class travel into Hong Kong grew by 19% year-on-year in 2024, the second-fastest rise in Asia-Pacific.

Major events like the Restaurant, Bar & Café Expo attract a discerning international crowd seeking both comfort and culinary credibility.
International guests still expect global reliability, steaks, sushi, Caesar salads, specialty coffee, but also increasingly respond to local cues. Health-forward menus and wellness items are now standard in hotels like Rosewood, JW Marriott, and Eaton Workshop, where local dishes appear in curated,
lighter formats.

The best venues are balancing international ease with local character:

• Bilingual menus
• Clearly labelled spice/dietary options
• Staff who guide, not overwhelm
• Pop-ups and chef-led tasting series that provide context without friction
• Rooftop lounges, lobby cafés and co-working hybrids (e.g. Dolce 88) now underpin the guest journey, not just the signature restaurant. These flexible spaces reflect guest rhythm, not just brand ambition.

Mainland Chinese visitors remain Hong Kong’s most significant inbound market. In 2024, visitor volumes reached 34 million, up 27% year-on-year, but their
patterns are shifting fast. More than half now arrive as day-trippers, spending around HK$1,300 per visit (down from HK$2,400 in 2018). These “special forces” tourists compress city experiences into fast, functional loops – highlighting affordability, familiarity, and speed.

They still seek Hong Kong staples:

• Milk tea, egg tarts, pineapple buns
• Roast meats (char siu, goose)
• Two-dish rice combos

But they often skip higher-cost meals, and favour venues with short queues, visible authenticity, and TikTok appeal.

Hong Kong has always been a city of extremes – skyline ambition layered over street-level efficiency. In 2024 and beyond, this polarity is playing out in food behaviours across the workplace, hospitality, and visitor segments. It’s not just a story of recovery; it’s a story of divergence.

Office workers still seek speed, but they’re also seeking substance: value-led, culturally resonant, and healthier than what came before. The days of the one-hour corporate lunch are numbered. Ten minutes and two dishes is the new benchmark— and the best operators are finding ways to make that desirable, not just functional.

Mainland visitors bring volume, but not spend. They want recognisable food, fast service, and Instagrammable touchpoints, but rarely linger. Operators who focus purely on headcount without optimising experience risk losing both profitability and brand equity.

Meanwhile, hotels are trying to straddle this divide. The luxury tier is more confident than ever, but the mid-market is at risk of becoming forgettable. Guests don’t want generic menus, they want clarity. They don’t need grandeur, they need purpose.

Our Regional Director, Adam O’Connor adds ‘Having lived and worked in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2019, I’ve watched how fast the place changes, sometimes literally from one quarter to the next. You can’t treat the food offer here like something fixed, it has to move with the city. Space costs a fortune, people don’t hang around, and what they’re willing to spend on or pay attention to shifts faster than most operators realise.

And honestly, the ones who cope with it best are the ones who do three pretty simple things, nothing fancy:

• They make the space work for movement, people walk in, eat, get on with their day, people don’t mind a queue for something great but once engaged they expect it to move.
• They understand the local culture enough to not make a song and dance about it, just get it right, no need for any preamble
• They offer value in a way that doesn’t feel like the finance team has taken over the kitchen. Still sharp, still generous but not wasteful.’