To attract visitors to the city, the government was also discussing the possibility of preserving sets of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the city’s award-winning martial arts film featuring the Kowloon Walled City, and turning them into exhibits, Wong said.
Including mega events that had already taken place, the city will hold more than 210 mega events by year’s end. This is expected to attract 1.7 million travellers, stimulate spending of HK$7.2 billion (US$92.3 million) and add HK$4.3 billion to the economy.
Wong explained that these figures were an estimate and emphasised that the mega events were “value for money” for Hong Kong since the city would be gaining a lot more as compared to what the government would be spending on subsidies this year.
The city was expected to spend about HK$200 million in subsidies for events this financial year, down from HK$330 million in the last.
Wong added that authorities would support organisers in hosting venues and crowd control.
Citing as an example the Chinese Kungfu x Dance Carnival 2024, to be held in July, he noted that coming events would have a “much larger capacity in terms of attracting visitors” and spur travel agencies in mainland China and overseas to organise more tours.
Highlights in the calendar also include 15 new events that are expected to bring first-time clients to Hong Kong. Among these are the Super Terminal Expo 2024, a gathering for transport and logistics leaders, and SmartCon 2024, the annual conference of American blockchain company Chainlink, which will be its first in Asia.
Hong Kong Fashion Design Week, the Wine & Dine Festival, the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo and WBSC Baseball5 World Cup are also mega events the city can look forward to in the latter half of the year.
Addressing concerns about the authorities’ support of certain past events, such as a friendly match where football superstar Lionel Messi failed to play in February, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the government had withdrawn the initial subsidy granted to organisers of the game. He stressed it had always been careful in considering which subsequent events to support.
“Not only the government, all event organisers should be cautious and prepare for [negative] situations that can possibly arise,” Yeung noted, adding that the government was reviewing its funding arrangements for mega events.
Separately, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said it had received more than 40 inquiries from organisers after setting up the Mega Event Development and Advancement team in March to foster better coordination with event companies.
The board’s executive director, Dane Cheng Ting-yat, said half of those inquiries were related to sports, while five international events had preliminarily confirmed that they would be held in Hong Kong, including four that would take place this year.
Cheng said these four potential mega events covered ball games, tournaments, entertainment, and arts and culture.
“Most of them” had not been held in Hong Kong before, and further details would be announced “at the appropriate time”, he added.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu earlier on Tuesday said Hong Kong would host “one mega event every two days” this year with more than 210 activities.
Echoing Wong, Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said the peak tourism season ran in the second half of the year and the annual tourist figure might outperform the 1.7 million estimated by the government.
Noting that many events from July onwards were exhibitions or conferences, Chui said they would boost Hong Kong’s status as a “conventions hub”.
Lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, a member of the legislature’s home affairs, culture and sports panel, urged the government to step up collaboration efforts with tourism and related sectors to maximise the economic benefits of the coming mega events.
He cited examples of launching promotions in mainland and overseas cities, as well as rolling out tourism packages for mega events and city tours to attract overnight visitors.
