Hong Kong’s efforts to reestablish itself as an Asian events hub are starting to lure more international visitors, the city’s tourism chief said.

Measures adopted by the Asian financial hub include revamping its taxi fleet and improving digital payment systems, Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, secretary for culture, sports and tourism of the Hong Kong SAR government, told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

The city is also doubling down on hosting major events to lure back the jet set, with a recent concert by British band Coldplay and a move by its annual Rugby Sevens tournament to a flashy new waterfront stadium.

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 “We need to rack our brain to find new attraction points so that people are willing to spend or find new reasons for people to stay that much longer,” said Law, who was appointed to the role in December. 

Visitor arrivals in the first quarter grew 9 percent from the same period in 2024, to 12 million, while the number of non-Chinese mainland visitors surged by 18 percent, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. It was the biggest on-year quarterly growth in tourists since travel resumed in Hong Kong after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Last year, the city welcomed nearly 45 million tourists, a 31 percent jump from 2023, though just short of the tourism board’s target of 46 million — and far off the record 65 million arrivals in 2018, the pre-pandemic year. The agency forecasts a 10 percent increase in visitors in 2025, to about 49 million.

The SAR relies heavily on the mainland for tourism: mainland visitors still comprise the bulk of arrivals, making up about 76 percent of visitors last year.

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Efforts to attract more visitors from outside the country include heavier marketing to draw holiday seekers from nations including India and Saudi Arabia. Arrivals from Japan and South Korea jumped 30 percent or more year-on-year in the first quarter.

Events blitz

Under a SAR government blueprint for the tourism industry, Hong Kong’s travel and tourism receipts are forecast to grow 60 percent over five years to HK$120 billion ($15 billion) in 2029. The plan hopes to attract visitors through sports and cultural events programs that could help reestablish Hong Kong as a regional events hub.

Much will be centered around the newly-opened Kai Tak Stadium, a 50,000-seat arena that’s part of a HK$32 billion sports park developed on the site of the city’s former airport. Coming up, the arena will host British Premier League matches in July featuring four of the world’s top soccer clubs, including Liverpool FC and AC Milan.

Visitors during May’s Golden Week holiday were up 22 percent from 2024, past 1.1 million. They were welcomed by a waterfront drone show and horse races that were billed as part of the mega events draw, Law said.

“We need to ensure that whatever we have not been doing enough in the past or we were disadvantaged in the past — such as the absence of a major stadium like the Kai Tak Stadium — we are now making the most of it,” Law said. “We are telling people that they are all welcome to come to Hong Kong.”