- International artists pass over the city because of its lack of large venues, late Covid-19 reopening and heading to Singapore, Japan and the Philippines instead
- Music industry hopes new Kai Tak stadium, with a capacity of 50,000, will attract mega acts after it is completed this year or next
Taylor Swift’s latest tour only includes two Asian countries. Photo: AP Hong Kong remains an attractive destination for international artists to hold concerts, but the lack of a large venue may have deterred some big names from coming, industry players have said.
Mega acts such as Taylor Swift, Coldplay and The 1975 skipped the city for world tours which will include places such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Industry players said the reasons the city missed out also included how late it reopened to the world after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Veteran producer Patrick Siu Chiu-shun said the stars might have been unable to take Hong Kong into account when planning world tours as the city’s stringent pandemic restrictions remained until the start of this year.
“Compared with other Asian regions, Hong Kong was more or less the last to open up to the world,” he said. “It might have been too late to book venues after Hong Kong reopened.”
Hong Kong dropped all restrictions on arrivals last December and fully reopened its border with mainland China in February.
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Concert and music festival organiser Joshua Chan Yee-jing said international headliners used to performing before tens of thousands of fans could not do so in Hong Kong, which did not have a space large enough.
“It may be unjustifiable for these artists to organise a concert in Hong Kong with only around 10,000 and set ticket prices similar to those for a 50,000-capacity concert,” he said.
The industry hoped the new stadium coming up in Kai Tak, with a capacity of 50,000, would attract mega acts. It is expected to be completed this year or next.
American singer Taylor Swift announced multiple dates for her world tour next year, including Japan and Singapore in February and March. Her decision to stop at only two Asian countries left fans disappointed across the continent, including in Hong Kong.
British band Coldplay will perform in Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand from November to February, while UK group The 1975’s world tour will take them to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan in July.
Lisa Hui Ping-sum, chair of the Performing Industry Association, said she expected more headline acts to perform in Hong Kong in the future.
She said that in the past, the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom, which could hold an audience of 12,500, held a leading position across Asia as there were no venues as big in other cities. But as it had to be booked a year in advance, it was used mostly by local artists.
Since then, places such as Shenzhen, Macau, and Singapore had caught up with even bigger venues and Hong Kong now lacked concert spaces for larger productions, she said.
Hong Kong’s main indoor concert venues now include the AsiaWorld-Expo in Chek Lap Kok, which can take up to 14,000, Star Hall in Kowloon Bay which can hold 3,600, and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, which seats 8,000.
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The Central Harbourfront Event Space provides almost 36,000 square metres of outdoor space.
Hui and Siu said Hong Kong remained competitive as artists such as Blackpink, Mayday and Jay Chou had performed in the city since it reopened this year.
Siu, the chairman of Wellfit Productions Limited, said artists considered factors such as their schedule, the availability of venues and the local market when deciding where to perform.
He said Hong Kong had a geographical edge too, as some artists viewed it as “a stepping stone” into the mainland market, while it was convenient for fans from places such as Taiwan and Singapore.
For now, however, the city did not have a lot of venue choices for large concerts.
“If AsiaWorld-Expo has no available dates, bigger names will not be able to perform in Hong Kong,” he said.
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Hong Kong Stadium could hold 40,000 spectators, but it was unsuitable for concerts because of its proximity to residential areas.
Siu said concert organisers liked venues near casinos, which usually took up a certain number of tickets for their clients and also provided attendees amenities such as shopping centres and restaurants.
Pointing out that Hong Kong’s venues currently lacked such amenities, he hoped that a 350,000 square metre retail complex opening next to the AsiaWorld-Expo next year would help to make a difference.
Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank, said that unlike Hong Kong, Singapore had put a lot of effort into developing event-based tourism from 10 years ago.
“Hong Kong has no specific strategies in tourism as the government simply aims to attract as many tourists as possible,” he said.
“Hong Kong has to further develop event or concert-based tourism as it can give a reason for tourists to come to the city, giving a boost to the aviation and hotel industry, restaurants and other spending.”