Hong Kong's Push for Art Tourism

The territory’s long-term vision and deep investment in arts infrastructure is paying off and helping it to reclaim the title of Asia’s It city

- Clement Yong

The four National Stadium concerts by Lady Gaga in May - the pop diva's only Asian stop on her Mayhem Tour - are a hot topic of conversation with international visitors at Hong Kong Art Week.

It is no wonder, after British rock band Coldplay's and American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's concerts in 2024 hogged headlines in ways arts and culture events seldom do in Singapore, crashing ticketing sites and even generating a minor diplomatic spat.

Frequently framed as the city-state's analogous competitor, Hong Kong is, in some ways, playing catch-up.

With a new 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium that opened in March, it is raring to sink its teeth into this new era of concert politics.

Already, tens of thousands of rugby fans strained the new sports facility's amenities over the course of the three-day Hong Kong Sevens from March 28 to 30.

Coldplay are locked in for four shows in April. In July, four of the world's most popular football clubs - Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan - will jostle in pre-season friendly matches.

These are all part of the latest concerted push by Hong Kong to restore its status as Asia's It city after a delayed and disappointing recovery in tourism numbers post-Covid-19.

This push to reclaim its position as Asia's buzziest hub has its high point in March with Hong Kong's calling card, art fair Art Basel, which attracted 91,000 visitors this edition over five days.

A Hong Kong official representative tells The Straits Times that in emphasis and prestige, Hong Kong's art calendar surpasses even such official business as the Belt And Road Summit.

Over lunch, Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Raistlin Lau said all this was so that Hong Kong can achieve its key aim of cementing its position as the "East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange".