Hong Kong needs to build more infrastructure to host international mega-events if the local government is serious about upgrading the city into a top regional travel destination, tourism sector leaders have said.
While the industry veterans were generally positive about the government’s latest blueprint to develop the tourism trade, which was unveiled on Monday, some said the city needed to make several quick fixes to attract more visitors.
Entertainment tycoon Allan Zeman, dubbed the “father of Lan Kwai Fong”, a top nightlife district in Central, suggested that hosting more mega cultural events could help Hong Kong “move up the tourism scale”.
“People like to go to exciting cities – cities that never sleep. If we can have two or three mega international events every month, we are getting close to that,” the Lan Kwai Fong Group chairman said.
He also urged the city to capitalise on the recent panda mania by building a park with themed restaurants, shops, games and rides.
“We have six pandas [in Ocean Park] but people go to look at them and then leave,” Zeman said. “We need to take it to another level.”