Hong Kong’s government says it approved spending of over HK$192 million since 2023 on “mega events” designed to attract tourists, and had put rules in place to guard against potential conflicts of interest.
In a written response to lawmakers on Wednesday, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said the committee overseeing the “Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund,” which is intended to attract major events to the city, had strict requirements on declaration of interests.
Beneficiaries “must follow the provisions of the funding agreement… and fulfil the related obligations,” and would only receive funding after the events, the bureau added.
Authorities unveiled the fund in 2022 in an effort to drive tourism in the city. It opened for applications in April last year.
Since then, the government had approved almost HK$155 million for 14 events, including Art Basel Hong Kong which received HK$15 million per year.
Another HK$37 million was granted to help host an undisclosed number of future events, the bureau said, adding that details would be announced in due course.
The bureau’s response was prompted by lawmaker Kenneth Lau, who asked how the government would oversee the vetting of applications after “Chubby Hearts Hong Kong,” an installation of giant heart-shaped balloons that received HK$7.7 million from the fund, drew suspicions of transfer of benefits.
The installation was designed by British fashion designer Anya Hindmarch, who also had a shop in the New World Development’s K11 Musea mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. The fund’s committee is chaired by New World Development’s CEO Adrian Cheng.
“The [committee] is fully committed to the principles of integrity, honesty, fairness and impartiality,” the bureau said.
The bureau also revealed that it had used a separate fund to subsidise 16 sporting events with total spending of HK$197 million last year, the highest figure in the past five years.
Influencers
Separately, the bureau said the Tourism Board invited more than 2,000 people, including social media influencers and celebrities, to produce promotional videos featuring their travel experiences in Hong Kong.
They included US actor Henry Golding, Japanese star Takeru Satoh, South Korean actor Jung Hae-in, and Malaysian actress Lin Min-chen.
More than 330 such videos were uploaded to 3,000 platforms worldwide, reaching an audience of over 200 million, the bureau added.
It was unclear how much was spent on such publicity campaigns. “Since the aforesaid promotional initiatives have been subsumed under [the Tourism Board’s] promotion efforts in various areas, it is difficult to quantify the relevant expenditures separately,” the bureau said.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan earmarked HK$1.09 billion to boost tourism during his budget speech for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Arrival numbers have gradually risen since Hong Kong’s Covid travel curbs were lifted, led by visitors from mainland China. However, spending has lagged and arrivals from North America and Europe have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
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