After two years of absence, the Hong Kong International Rugby Sevens will be staged again today (4th) at the Hong Kong Stadium.
The crowds in the Causeway Bay area were only slightly more than usual, but there were no crowds of people when the competition was staged in previous years.
There are many restaurants in the streets near the stadium. Different shopkeepers who have been in business for many years said in unison that this year’s event attracted the least number of people, and the atmosphere was not very lively, but the number of diners was obviously more foreigners, and some Thai restaurants especially doubled the ingredients. To welcome Qilan fans, there are also western restaurants hoping to attract fans to drink and have fun after the show, which is expected to increase business by 20 to 30%.
▼November 4th Hong Kong Sevens kicks off▼
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Jacob, a Thai Peek-A-Chill employee, expects to turn the table two or three times.
(Photo by Lin Yingxian)
Thai restaurant prepares double the ingredients
At Peek-A-Chill, which operates Thai cuisine on Xiyun Street, employee Jacob said that the restaurant had just opened for a big event in Qilan, and he specially prepared one to twice as much ingredients for Qilan, "It's all called two to three more. Part-Time (part-time) colleagues return to work", hoping that Qilan can bring more business to the restaurant.
Although Qilan has just opened today, he said that today's lunch market has two to three times more diners than usual, and many tourists wearing rugby jerseys patronize, "There are many foreigners who help, four more than usual. "Successful," expecting more diners to patronize the evening market, "I hope there will be 50 to 70 people, and I can turn the table two or three times... I hope the business volume can reach 20,000."
He also expects that tomorrow's business will be more prosperous than today, because tomorrow is Saturday, and there are competitions throughout the day, and the restaurant also plans to extend its business hours due to the flow of people. ."
The owner has experienced 3 Rugby Sevens games, and this year's crowd is no longer crowded
Located on the corner of Leighton Road, the owner of the old-fashioned Danish bakery famous for selling hot dogs lamented that he had not seen so few people in the Qilan event in decades, and no one waited in line to buy products, and the business was poor.
Hymas, the proprietor of the Western restaurant Sleepless on Xiyun Street, said that he has been in business for five years and has experienced two Rugby Sevens games. Today is the third time he has witnessed the event being played again. The scenarios are very different, "there is no special growth, no special difference".
He described the city as quiet, the flow of people is undoubtedly the same as on weekdays, and there were no tourists who specially watched the entrance, and said with a smile, "You don't need to close the road."
And the foreigners in the restaurant's lunch market are all regular customers: "I don't think it has a Rugby Sevens atmosphere, there is no difference."
Sleepless expects fans to come and drink.
(Photo by Lin Yingxian)
He continued to point out that after the opening of the gong in Qilan last year, "There are many foreigners in the streets, and the locals will all pretend to be ghosts and horses. They may stop drinking beer and go for a walk, even if we shop by ourselves. There will always be a lot of beer drinkers, but if this year Rugby Sevens doesn't have a particularly big atmosphere to build this thing up."
He also pointed out that he also played sports, and his friends also came to watch Bo in previous years.
But I still hope to attract more fans tonight, so as to drive the business volume to increase by 20% to 30%, but admit that I have no confidence that it can achieve the previous business volume.
A large number of foreign guests came to eat, but the street did not feel the atmosphere
Mr. Yang, an employee of No Boundary, another western restaurant on the same street, pointed out that this afternoon, the crowd was only slightly more than last Friday, and there were also more foreign guests than on weekdays. There are three or four more stations than usual. For small stores, the increase has doubled.
It is difficult for him to estimate the business tonight, and it is difficult to say that the improvement of business is related to the game.
He said frankly that until 3:00 pm, he still did not feel the atmosphere of the game, and it was only after interviewing with the media yesterday that he learned that Qilan started today.
▼November 4th Hong Kong Sevens kicks off▼
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