Hong Kong people used to “love night grass”, and loved to hang out in nightclubs and streets late at night. They firmly believed that “the more nights, the more organic”, and even gave rise to the social problem of “night greens”. But times have changed, and “Hong Kong at Night” is accused of losing its glory, shops are closing their doors earlier and earlier, and there are fewer and fewer people on the street. In fact, the loss of “night economy” is not only a problem in Hong Kong. Europe and the United States are also facing the same trend. Due to the increase in entertainment options, people can stay at home to surf the Internet, play mobile phones, and watch TV shows without having to “night out” to entertain their boredom. To some extent, the “Night Market” is lively every night, but it has been moved to the virtual world. At the same time, according to international experience, the “night economy” is no longer limited to bars and discos, but also includes bookstores, cafes, concerts and cultural events. Nightlife can still be very exciting.
I remember that many, many, many years ago, that is, in 2013, the author had already written in this column “Why doesn’t MTR run 24 hours?” 〉The article was caused by the “night economy” trend in Europe and the United States at that time. New York, London, Berlin and other big cities successively implemented some subway lines to operate 24 hours a day. Paris and Milan also extended the subway service until the early morning on weekends, hoping to stimulate Shenzhen. overnight consumption. After all, people are of the same mind. In the face of stagnant GDP, local governments all hope to revitalize the “night economy” on top of the “day economy” and create room for growth. It’s like a restaurant paying 30,000 yuan a month in rent. If you “make the best use of everything” and sell two meals during the day and turn it into a bar at night, wouldn’t this business be more cost-effective?
So after ten years, what is the performance of the above-mentioned international cities in “night economy”? The answer is mixed, the whole is not as optimistic as originally estimated. For example, according to the statistics of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) in the United Kingdom, the proportion of local people’s consumption of out of home leisure activities (Out of Home Leisure at Night) to the total consumption in 2012 was about 7.8%; later As the government urged the “night economy”, it once exceeded 8% in 2015, but it basically returned to its original shape in 2018 (it will fall below 6% in 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic).
In the past few years, the British “night economy” (including restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other industries) has continued to shrink, with a total loss of up to 700,000 jobs. The NTIA listed two major reasons, namely, the decrease in “night rushers” and the increase in electricity charges (which increased the operating costs of stores during “extended hours”, which outweighed the gains). The COVID-19 epidemic made things worse.
Similar situations have also appeared in other places. “Nihon Keizai Shimbun” reported in May this year that since Japan fully “returned to normal” (lifting epidemic prevention restrictions) in October 2022, most of the local economic and consumption fields have recovered, even surpassing the epidemic situation. The previous level, only the “night economy” is still behind. According to the observation of the luminosity of satellite images, the bustling level of downtown Tokyo at night is about 90% of that before the epidemic. In addition, Japanese independent reporter Joe Fukuzawa pointed out in early August that the nights in Tokyo are obviously not as lively as before. Many izakayas that were originally open until the early morning have closed their doors early, and some McDonald’s fast food branches have also canceled their 24-hour operation. He noticed that this “night-time fading” trend started as early as 2011 and was not triggered by the epidemic, but it has only intensified in recent years.
Night Market Moves to Virtual World
In response to the weakness of the “night economy”, the British underground music association Keep Hush conducted a survey last year and found that the young people’s interest in nightlife has dropped sharply. For example, only 13% of the respondents of the millennial generation (born between 1981 and 1996) are interested in going to nightclubs (clubbing). Nowadays, young people generally believe that they have many entertainment options at night, such as surfing the Internet, playing mobile games, watching streaming videos, etc., and they don’t necessarily go out to kill time. For social needs, young people will use communication programs to connect with friends, and they can also meet new people through the “Dating App”.
To a certain extent, the “night market” is actually very lively every night, but it has moved to the virtual world, where everyone listens to music, entertains, watches movies, socializes, consumes (online shopping, class fees) and even buys food (using takeaway apps) online. Before the Internet, people tended to be bored and lonely at night, and stayed at home to watch TV, so many people “love Ye Pu”, including Luo D, Luo Club, singing K, etc. Even if students have little money, they can buy two Cans of beer spent the night with friends by the Tsim Sha Tsui East Sea. But now there are a wide range of entertainment options, technology can solve various needs, and more people like to “stay” at home. The related economic model is called “stay-at-home economy”.
But in the final analysis, no matter day or night, the author has always believed that human beings have a certain natural desire for “physical social interaction”, and “physical consumption” will not be completely replaced. For example, seven nights a week, hea spends at most five nights in the dwelling, and at least two days he wants to go out for entertainment. Therefore, there is always a market for “night economy”, but the model needs to be adjusted in response to changes in the times.
Think outside the box
The good news is that according to international experience, although traditional “night business” such as bars and discos are facing great challenges, the cultural industry has shown strong demand. Concerts and movie screenings held at night attracted the participation of “night owls”. Hong Kong’s “night economy” should not be limited to the traditional thinking of Lan Kwai Fong or Da Da. It is advisable to broaden your horizons, such as partnering with cultural venues such as West Kowloon, Movie Center, Concert Hall, Bookstore, and Wenqing Coffee Shop to hold special night events , It can drive surrounding related consumption, and the organic land makes Hong Kong’s nightlife more colorful.
2023-08-23 19:28:00
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