'Protests Could Force 1,000 Restaurants To Close'

The lawmaker representing the catering sector, Tommy Cheung, has warned that up to 1,000 restaurants are facing closure as months of protests hit the industry harder than the deadly outbreak of Sars in 2003.

Cheung said some 200 restaurants had already been forced to close since widespread protests, sparked by a now-scrapped attempt to change the extradition law, began in June.

"In June basically we saw an overall 10 per cent drop in businesses," Cheung said on Saturday. "Unfortunately coming into October, the first 20 days we're looking at a 50 per cent decline.

"The unemployment rate in the catering industry has gone up, and if you look at bankruptcy for restaurants they are talking about several hundred, and I think we need help from all sectors."

He urged landlords to offer rent reductions for struggling restaurants, and also called on the government to fully guarantee loans for restaurant owners who have to borrow money to pay staff wages.

Some 299 people died in 2003 when the severe, acute respiratory syndrome virus spread to Hong Kong. Visitor arrivals slumped and domestic consumption slowed dramatically until the outbreak cleared up.

Meanwhile the Tourism Association's executive director, Timothy Chui, has said he believed a government subsidy for tour agencies, announced this week, would have little effect as few people want to visit Hong Kong at the moment.

The government announced this week that tour agencies would receive a HK$120 per night handout for every visitor they bring to Hong Kong, along with HK$100 per night for tourists travelling from the SAR.

Chui called on the government to think of different ways to support the industry.