Hong Kong Palace Museum to suspend free entry every Wednesday to 7 exhibitions amid low turnout
- Decision was made because only one-third of those who registered had shown up over past six months, museum says
- Museum plans to give away the tickets to city’s underprivileged instead
Louis Ng Chi-wa, director of the museum, on Thursday said the decision was made because only about one-third of those who had registered for free entry had shown up on the booked day over the past six months.
“Since the opening of the museum in July last year, more than 160,000 people signed up for free admission every Wednesday. But the attendance has been low at only 35 per cent in the past six months, resulting in free tickets being wasted,” he said.
“So we decided to suspend the ‘free Wednesday’ arrangement from July. In the future, we will give away more tickets to the underprivileged, with plans to distribute more than 120,000 every year.”
Under the arrangement, visitors get to enjoy free entry to seven thematic exhibitions every Wednesday in the first 12 months of the opening of the museum, which is located in the West Kowloon Cultural District.
Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, CEO of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, said the body still faced cash flow difficulties, despite the final deficit for the previous financial year being a third less than the original forecast.
“Despite the reopening of the city’s border with mainland China, we still face cash flow problems as the HK$21.6 billion government upfront endowment given in 2008 will be used up in one or two years,” she said.
