Drone show gets go-ahead for May 11

The first drone show will be held on May 11 at Wan Chai harborfront and the next pyrotechnic show will light up the sky over Victoria Harbour on June 15, says the Tourism Board.

This comes as Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said the 180,000 mainland tourists who visited Hong Kong on Labor Day exceeded expectations, with some hotels achieving a 93 percent occupancy rate.

The Tourism Board held its first pyrotechnic display in Tsim Sha Tsui on Wednesday night.

Chui said he was delighted to learn that some tourists came specifically for the display, which he attributed to the government's publicity and influencer promotion on mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu.

"I hope authorities could more clearly explain the difference in scale between the pyrotechnic display and the Lunar New Year fireworks or National Day fireworks, as well as locations for viewing," Chui said.

The drone show will last about 10 minutes from 8pm and spectators are advised to watch it from the Wan Chai temporary promenade and the HarbourChill seaside relaxation zone, where sound systems will heighten the overall ambience.

A pyrotechnic display will be held on June 15 also at Wan Chai harborfront, coinciding with the opening day of the International Dragon Boat Invitational Races.

Online critics have slammed the pyrotechnic show as disappointing as it cannot be seen outside of certain areas of the Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront.

"I arrived at the harborfront at 5pm and stood in the first row. The show was disappointing [as] I could only see the pyrotechnic patterns for the first 10 seconds," a mainland tourist said on Xiaohongshu. "I might not have watched if I had known."

Meanwhile, the tourism sector has called on the government to incentivize businesses to invest in tourist attractions in the hopes of solving poor support measures, especially the limited accommodation offered by the Island District.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com