Promoting Culture, Sports, and Tourism Integration as New Driver of GBA Growth
Promoting Culture, Sports, and Tourism Integration as New Driver of GBA Growth
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
The Government has announced the calendar of mega events in Hong Kong for the first half of 2025, featuring 30 cultural, arts, and creative events (such as Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central), 15 sports and games (such as the Hong Kong Sevens and the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon), and 26 conference and exhibition events. Organising a variety of international mega events is strategically crucial to Hong Kong’s economic development by encouraging the industrialisation of culture, sports and tourism (CST) while attracting commerce and popularity to Hong Kong. The projected number of visitors and spending attracted by mega events in the first half of 2025 will be approximately 840,000 and HKD 3.3 billion, respectively, generating around HKD 1.8 billion in economic value added to Hong Kong, representing an increase of nearly 40% and 30%, respectively, over the same period in 2024.
In recent years, the CST industry has progressively become a new engine for Hong Kong’s economic diversification and a key driver for fostering integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Early last month, the “Our Hong Kong Foundation—Dah Sing Bank Greater Bay Area Industry Development Index 2024” (the Index) was released. With an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the industry development trends, strengths, and potential of the 11 GBA cities across six industries, including CST, financial services, innovation and technology, trade and logistics, manufacturing, and construction and real estate, the Index, ranked Hong Kong with the highest overall score of 79.4 out of 100 in the CST industry, topping all five indicators. In particular, the city ranked first in humanity resources, economic contribution, and policy support, showcasing Hong Kong’s exceptional performance in developing the CST industry.
Favourable Policies Keep Giving Fresh Impetus to CST Development
Due to the impact of the pandemic and other factors, the number of visitors to Hong Kong declined in past years, resulting in a weaker performance in CST than before the pandemic. Additionally, Mainland visitors’ travel and spending patterns have shifted from shopping-oriented to in-depth and experiential tourism focusing on culture, entertainment, and eco-tourism experiences. The shift has placed higher demands on Hong Kong’s CST industry. However, the post-pandemic full opening of the borders in 2023 has delivered positive signs, such as auctions and sports events, showing that recovery is underway in the CST industry of the GBA and market demand. According to statistics, Mainland visitor arrivals to Hong Kong exceeded 25.236 million in the first three quarters of 2024, marking a 35% year-on-year increase. Notably, on National Day (1 October), Mainland arrivals reached a daily record high since the post-pandemic full opening of the borders (approximately 220,000 visitors), reflecting the gradual recovery of Hong Kong’s CST industry and the enthusiasm among Mainland tourists for the new tourism patterns.
To open a new page for the CST industry in Hong Kong and the broader GBA, a series of policies aimed at supporting CST development have been introduced, including the 240-hour visa-free transit policy (10 days), the official opening of the Huangmaohai Cross-Sea Passage, the multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme for Shenzhen permanent residents, and the introduction of the "one trip per week" and "multiple-entry permit" for Zhuhai and Hengqin residents visiting Macao. Moreover, in the 2024 Policy Address, under the section "Promote Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Foster Economic Diversification", the Government introduced new initiatives. One of the key measures is to foster the synergistic development of major sports events, innovative entertainment, dining, conventions and exhibitions, and tourism activities through the establishment of the inter-departmental Task Force on Kai Tak Sports Park. Furthermore, the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development released on 26 November 2024 and the to-be-announced Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0 will inject fresh momentum into Hong Kong’s cultural, tourism, and related industries in the years ahead.
Maximising the National Games for GBA’s Integration
According to the Index’s findings, enhancing a sport-for-all culture is considered the top opportunity in 2025 by the surveyed industries in the GBA. With a vast market of nearly 90 million population, consideration should be given to maximise sports collaboration in the region by leveraging sports as a platform to promote synergistic development of GBA’s CST. In the author’s view, the key is to strengthen institutional coordination in the GBA and facilitate the free flow of people, goods, capital, and information. Since the 15th National Games will be cohosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in November 2025, it will likely be a significant opportunity to deepen CST exchanges between the three regions.
The National Games this year will feature two cross-boundary events, the road cycling race and the marathon. Everything from race route design to clearance service arrangement of athletes, spectators, and vehicles will require joint planning by the three regions. For instance, the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Road Cycling Race and the 15th National Games road cycling test event successfully held on 24 November demonstrated the collaboration among the three regions through the implementation of a "pre-clearance inspection + closed-loop management" model, achieving “delay-free, contact-free, queue-free” smart clearance for all event personnel, vehicles, and equipment, thus facilitating the tripartite mechanism for future events. It is believed that the regular liaison mechanism built for the National Games could be extended to the culture and tourism industries, enabling the three regions to cohost international mega events and gain valuable experience in regional synergistic collaboration.
The development of the CST industry in the GBA shows unlimited potential and broad prospects. It is believed that by continuously facilitating the collaboration between Hong Kong and other GBA cities in CST, striving for complementarity of advantages, and accelerating the construction of the bay area for culture and leisure, the GBA’s social, economic, and cultural development will be further upgraded, ultimately furthering Hong Kong’s reputation as an event capital.
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
The Government has announced the calendar of mega events in Hong Kong for the first half of 2025, featuring 30 cultural, arts, and creative events (such as Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central), 15 sports and games (such as the Hong Kong Sevens and the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon), and 26 conference and exhibition events. Organising a variety of international mega events is strategically crucial to Hong Kong’s economic development by encouraging the industrialisation of culture, sports and tourism (CST) while attracting commerce and popularity to Hong Kong. The projected number of visitors and spending attracted by mega events in the first half of 2025 will be approximately 840,000 and HKD 3.3 billion, respectively, generating around HKD 1.8 billion in economic value added to Hong Kong, representing an increase of nearly 40% and 30%, respectively, over the same period in 2024.
In recent years, the CST industry has progressively become a new engine for Hong Kong’s economic diversification and a key driver for fostering integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Early last month, the “Our Hong Kong Foundation—Dah Sing Bank Greater Bay Area Industry Development Index 2024” (the Index) was released. With an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the industry development trends, strengths, and potential of the 11 GBA cities across six industries, including CST, financial services, innovation and technology, trade and logistics, manufacturing, and construction and real estate, the Index, ranked Hong Kong with the highest overall score of 79.4 out of 100 in the CST industry, topping all five indicators. In particular, the city ranked first in humanity resources, economic contribution, and policy support, showcasing Hong Kong’s exceptional performance in developing the CST industry.
Favourable Policies Keep Giving Fresh Impetus to CST Development
Due to the impact of the pandemic and other factors, the number of visitors to Hong Kong declined in past years, resulting in a weaker performance in CST than before the pandemic. Additionally, Mainland visitors’ travel and spending patterns have shifted from shopping-oriented to in-depth and experiential tourism focusing on culture, entertainment, and eco-tourism experiences. The shift has placed higher demands on Hong Kong’s CST industry. However, the post-pandemic full opening of the borders in 2023 has delivered positive signs, such as auctions and sports events, showing that recovery is underway in the CST industry of the GBA and market demand. According to statistics, Mainland visitor arrivals to Hong Kong exceeded 25.236 million in the first three quarters of 2024, marking a 35% year-on-year increase. Notably, on National Day (1 October), Mainland arrivals reached a daily record high since the post-pandemic full opening of the borders (approximately 220,000 visitors), reflecting the gradual recovery of Hong Kong’s CST industry and the enthusiasm among Mainland tourists for the new tourism patterns.
To open a new page for the CST industry in Hong Kong and the broader GBA, a series of policies aimed at supporting CST development have been introduced, including the 240-hour visa-free transit policy (10 days), the official opening of the Huangmaohai Cross-Sea Passage, the multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme for Shenzhen permanent residents, and the introduction of the "one trip per week" and "multiple-entry permit" for Zhuhai and Hengqin residents visiting Macao. Moreover, in the 2024 Policy Address, under the section "Promote Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Foster Economic Diversification", the Government introduced new initiatives. One of the key measures is to foster the synergistic development of major sports events, innovative entertainment, dining, conventions and exhibitions, and tourism activities through the establishment of the inter-departmental Task Force on Kai Tak Sports Park. Furthermore, the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development released on 26 November 2024 and the to-be-announced Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0 will inject fresh momentum into Hong Kong’s cultural, tourism, and related industries in the years ahead.
Maximising the National Games for GBA’s Integration
According to the Index’s findings, enhancing a sport-for-all culture is considered the top opportunity in 2025 by the surveyed industries in the GBA. With a vast market of nearly 90 million population, consideration should be given to maximise sports collaboration in the region by leveraging sports as a platform to promote synergistic development of GBA’s CST. In the author’s view, the key is to strengthen institutional coordination in the GBA and facilitate the free flow of people, goods, capital, and information. Since the 15th National Games will be cohosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in November 2025, it will likely be a significant opportunity to deepen CST exchanges between the three regions.
The National Games this year will feature two cross-boundary events, the road cycling race and the marathon. Everything from race route design to clearance service arrangement of athletes, spectators, and vehicles will require joint planning by the three regions. For instance, the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Road Cycling Race and the 15th National Games road cycling test event successfully held on 24 November demonstrated the collaboration among the three regions through the implementation of a "pre-clearance inspection + closed-loop management" model, achieving “delay-free, contact-free, queue-free” smart clearance for all event personnel, vehicles, and equipment, thus facilitating the tripartite mechanism for future events. It is believed that the regular liaison mechanism built for the National Games could be extended to the culture and tourism industries, enabling the three regions to cohost international mega events and gain valuable experience in regional synergistic collaboration.
The development of the CST industry in the GBA shows unlimited potential and broad prospects. It is believed that by continuously facilitating the collaboration between Hong Kong and other GBA cities in CST, striving for complementarity of advantages, and accelerating the construction of the bay area for culture and leisure, the GBA’s social, economic, and cultural development will be further upgraded, ultimately furthering Hong Kong’s reputation as an event capital.
