The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 8, with regard to the measures relating to the collaborative development of culture, sports and tourism in the “Five-Year Plan” and the “Policy Address”, the Hong Kong Culture, Sports and Tourism Council (CUHK) Secretary Lo Shu-pui, said that the authorities attached great importance to these suggestions and would continue to promote cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries, develop creative industries and promote sports development in the future, while deepening the status of Hong Kong's tourism industry.
First, in terms of building Hong Kong as a center for cultural and artistic exchange between China and foreign countries, the authorities will make good use of new resources. The important measures are to implement the long-awaited reform of the arts troupe funding system and continue to fund the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo to promote the sustainable and industrialized development of culture and art. The arts troupe funding system will be gradually reformed from 2027 to 28, and the 2nd Hong Kong Performing Arts Fair will open tomorrow. More than 1,800 performing arts professionals from Hong Kong, the Mainland and the world will exchange and discuss business opportunities for arts troupes to “bring in and go global”.
In the West Kowloon Cultural District, the West Kowloon Performing Arts Centre, which has four performance venues, will open next year. The West Kowloon Authority will continue to lead exhibitions and performing arts programs on tours and tours at home and abroad.
Under the “Five-Year Plan”, the authorities will continue to expand the scale of Hong Kong's literary, artistic and creative industries, including added value and the specific number of employees. In various tasks, Lo Suk-pui will focus on film aspects.
The Administration is comprehensively reviewing the Film Development Fund in the direction of effective use of resources. The goal is to enable the Hong Kong film industry to flourish again. At the same time, we will encourage more films to be filmed in Hong Kong, study the provision of filming locations, encourage Hong Kong films to stay in Hong Kong, and set up an overseas film shooting support team to provide a one-stop service for overseas films shot in Hong Kong to attract overseas films to promote Hong Kong. Under the premise of cultural tourism integration, the authorities will develop the second phase of the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station film exhibition. The Tourism and Development Board will also launch a new “Movie+Travel” promotion project later to strengthen the promotion of film tourism and regional tourism.
In terms of sports, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will make every effort to contribute Hong Kong's own strength to the country's direction of building a strong sports nation. The Hong Kong team of China achieved a record breaking 11 gold, 19 silver and 24 bronze medals at this year's Asian Games, with a total of 54 medals, adding glory to the country and adding color to Hong Kong. This fully reflects the results of the government's policy to promote sports development. The authorities will continue to make further efforts to improve the system, invest resources, and increase the economic contribution of the sports industry.
In terms of hardware, the “Policy Address” announced the reconstruction of Victoria Park tennis courts. On the one hand, it will create more complete conditions for the industrialization of sports and events. At the same time, it can also drive the flow of people in the region and boost the economy.
In recent years, the Hong Kong Government has adopted various policies and measures to provide flexibility and support for the studies and employment of athletes who are still in school. This year's “Policy Address” further proposed a sports administration training program. The industry is very supportive of this, believing that it will help cultivate talents with elite sports experience and management talents to support sports industrialization and professionalization.
The role of tourism in stabilizing employment and boosting the economy is important. The tourism industry has performed well this year. The first nine months have recorded 40.7 million visitors to Hong Kong, an increase of 12% year-on-year. More than 1.41 million mainland visitors visited Hong Kong during the 7th National Day Golden Week, which was higher than last year's 8-day Golden Week, which surpassed the original estimate. At the same time, we are confident that we will reach the target of 53.8 million visitors to Hong Kong throughout the year.
Building a “one-way multi-stop” demonstration core area is an important position given to Hong Kong as a nation building a tourism powerhouse. The authorities will deepen cooperation with mainland ministries, departments, provinces and cities, and strengthen overseas publicity and promotion, particularly to promote “one trip, multiple stops” to the medium- and long-distance markets, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
In terms of “events+tourism,” the first International Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival hosted by the Tourism and Development Bureau was very popular, attracting about 730,000 visitors, boosting surrounding restaurants and retail. Next, the HKTB will launch Hong Kong Halloween for the first time this year, host cosplay street parties at various tourist hotspots, and launch ticket discounts for the Hong Kong Wine and Food Tour during November, continuing the benefits of the event. The Discover Hong Kong platform will also be optimized to integrate event ticket endings hosted and promoted by the Tourism and Development Board, and provide a one-stop contact service to promote cooperation between event organizers and retail, catering and tourism-related associations.