Hong Kong will host “one mega event every two days” in the coming six months, the city’s leader has said, announcing 60 activities have been added to this year’s calendar.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that this year’s lineup of 210 mega events was expected to bring in about 1.7 million travellers, contributing HK$4.3 billion to the local economy.
The mega events will include artistic and creative activities, sports competitions, large-scale conferences, trade exhibitions and financial summits, among others.
“I’ve mentioned many times that the government will not rely on one way to boost the local economy ... the variety of events hosted in Hong Kong will create opportunities for attracting people and fortune,” Lee said ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting.
Hong Kong’s leader noted the sector had already resulted in 14.62 million incoming trips being recorded in the first four months of this year, twice the number from the same period in 2023.
He added that Hong Kong also logged a more than 80 per cent increase in visitors from the United States, Canada and Indonesia last month, with most doing overnight trips to the city.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Expanded Hong Kong solo travel scheme will bring extra 300,000 tourists, up to HK$1.5 billion: John Lee
- Pay in Hong Kong’s retail, travel industries lags behind all other sectors as city recovers from Covid pandemic
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