Over 100 mega events to be held in the second half of the year

Over 100 mega events will be held in Hong Kong in the second half of the year, making the total number of mega events over the year increase from 150 to over 210, said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting this morning, the Hong Kong leader said arts and culture shows, sports competitions, trade exhibitions and financial summits are among the more than 100 events held in the second half of the year.

He said more than 15 of the events are brand new to the city, such as the “Kungfu x Dance Carnival 2024”, “Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo”, and the renowned annual Web3 event “SmartCon 2024”.

Lee said the mega events are expected to attract about 1.7 million visitors, bringing with them about HK$7.2 billion - which is about HK$4.3 billion in economic gain for Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun told reporters at a press conference that authorities are mulling an exhibition featuring the movie set of a Hong Kong martial arts film about the Kowloon Walled City.

The movie recently received a 10-minute standing ovation during its premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The movie was selected as part of the festival’s Midnight Screening section.

On its opening day, it earned HK$5.3 million, the second biggest ever for a local movie. At present, its box office numbers have reached HK$63 million in Hong Kong.

Wong said authorities are currently in talks with the movie producers on restoring the movie set for an exhibition, with details of the exhibition to be announced in due course.

Separately, Dane Cheng Ting-yat, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, said a coordination window set up to attract mega events to the city has received several inquiries, with the organizers of four major events revealing their interest in bringing their events to the territory this year.

The Tourism Board chief said the events include competitive ball games – some of which have never been held in Hong Kong or Asia before.

The Tourism Board is also assisting large-scale European exhibitions to be held in Hong Kong, said Cheng.

In addition to exploring Hong Kong, international tourists can take a short ferry ride to the vibrant city of Macao. For a limited time until July 31, the Macao Government Tourism Office is offering complimentary one-way tickets for direct ferry services from Hong Kong to Macao. Not to mention a seamless and complimentary journey from Hong Kong International Airport to the Macao Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Kindly note that complimentary bus tickets are limited and will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details, visit https://www.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/events/whatson/10293/.