Dying hostels in HK: A global backpackers' landing spot reveals huge gap between rich & poor

By Ang Li & Jingyi Liu

"Surviving is more important than anything," Lau Yin-ming, the vice-president of Hong Kong Guesthouse Association (HKGA) sighed while he cleaned the hostel rooms by himself, as he had no choice but to lay off all his employees in the struggle to make ends meet.

Located in HK's Tsim Sha Tsui, Mirador Mansion has a long history and witnessed the ups and downs of this city. It is scattered with low-cost hostels, being a landing spot welcomed by backpackers worldwide. But after the social unrest in 2019, this year's pandemic has become the last straw to break the back of this industry.

According to the founding chairman of HKGA, David Leung, more than 500 hostels have closed down due to the plummeting number of tourists, and the final "dead-line" will be next January if the vaccine is not out and the situation might force the last fighters in this business to stop struggling.

The biggest wish of David is a peaceful HK where guests from any part of the world are welcomed, and not everything becomes a matter of political confrontation. He says, "If HK continues to be in self-seclusion, it is no different from self-destruction."

Watch the short documentary by DotDotNews, and get ready to be shocked by the huge gap between rich and poor in HK society.

揭秘垂死掙扎的香港賓館：全球背包客落腳點 貧富懸殊的最真實寫照

「生存比什麼都重要」， 香港旅館業協會副主席劉延銘邊清理旅館房間邊感歎道。由於遊客驟減，為了維持生計，他唯有裁掉所有員工，事無巨細都得自己動手。

美麗都大廈，坐落於香港尖沙咀，歷史悠久，見證了這座城市的起起伏伏、滄桑變化。在這裏遍布着廉價的時鐘賓館，深受全球背包客歡迎。但是在2019年的修例風波後，今年的疫情成為了壓垮這個行業的「最後一根稻草」。

香港旅館協會創會會長梁大衛指出，因為遊客越來越少，已經有逾500間賓館倒閉。他預言道，最後一批「死線」將會是明年1月，如果疫苗仍未面世，那這種情形很可能迫使在這個行業裏垂死掙扎的那批人無奈放棄。

大衛現在最大的心願就是香港能恢復和平，重新向五湖四海的朋友敞開大門，而非任何事情都發酵為政治之爭。他坦言：「香港再這樣閉關自守，無異於自取滅亡。」

請跟隨點新聞DotDotNews的鏡頭，一起來探秘香港社會貧富懸殊的縮影。