OBSERVATION: Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been battered due to social unrest and might require new solutions for the future to attract more broad market segments.
SOLUTION: Re-imagine the future tourism for Hong Kong through the creation of a long-term vision, leveraging the city’s existing strengths, establishing new initiatives, and upgrading the city’s infrastructure.
Countless visitors have remarked that there is nowhere on earth that is quite like Hong Kong. One of the most-visited places on the planet, Hong Kong’s geographical location, unique history, culture, colonial past and amazing adaptability can be further leveraged to provide a wide range of tourism opportunities to attract broad market segments from across the world.
While Mainland Chinese visitors currently, and will likely continue to dominate Hong Kong’s tourism scene, catering to a single source market is often risky. Hong Kong’s past moniker as a “shopping paradise” may have faded into the mists of time as the city grapples with how it should now reposition itself. Tourism destinations often need to reinvent themselves, especially after periods of poor performance, and Hong Kong is no exception.
Architect and hospitality consultant Thomas Schmidt, AIA of Sepia Design Consultants Limited ponders a few initiatives that might diversify tourism and reposition Hong Kong over the years to come:
TOURISM IDEAS – ARTS & PERFORMANCE:
Hong Kong has no shortage of stimulating arts and performance-related events; however, a key limitation is often a lack of appropriate performance venues.
WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT:
A new 40 HA waterfront site in West Kowloon promises to be a new hub for arts and culture in Hong Kong, despite being mired in controversy over the past 20 years. While the Freespace and the Xiqu Centre performance venues were recently completed, a number of other complementary projects are currently under construction, or in the design phase in what some describe as an opaque master plan. While the jury is still out as to how this hotly-anticipated area will eventually perform and affect tourism, the further promotion of arts and culture in Hong Kong is a step in the right direction.
- Access: What are the access options for this new development? Will tourists be able to easily access this area?
- Waterfront Promenade: Will the evolving development include a public waterfront promenade linking this area to the Star Ferry and Tsim Sha Tsui? If not, why not?
- Ferry Pier: Will a new ferry pier be provided to facilitate cross-harbour access for large volumes of people?
- Water Taxis: Could there be a series of water taxis providing additional waterfront access to the development?
- Connectivity: Will this “hub” suffer the same fate as the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal — a destination with insufficient public transport links?
OUTDOOR MUSIC:
Music festivals have the potential to draw significant international crowds; however, Hong Kong suffers from an acute shortage of performance venues, with many big acts bypassing Hong Kong completely on their world tours. Love it or hate it, the one-off star-studded Harbourfest outdoor music festival in 2003 was arguably one of the most memorable outdoor music events in the history of Hong Kong’s music scene, despite its many controversies. Nowadays, the independently-organized 3-day Clockenflap music festival continues to be a popular annual event, with its central waterfront location providing convenient access and a glittering backdrop of Hong Kong’s skyline.
- Central Waterfront: Could a section of the Central Waterfront area become a dedicated outdoor performance space with permanent toilets and relevant infrastructure, instead of the constant reliance on foul-smelling portable toilets?
- Funding: Could government incentives and funding be provided to promote a series of year-round outdoor concerts that could draw the biggest acts in the music industry?
- Cantopop Scene: Could many Cantopop concerts be held in an alternate outdoor venue on the waterfront as opposed to a stuffy stadium?
- Classical: Could Hong Kong have its own “symphony beneath the stars?”
- Parks: Could Hong Kong’s Parks host a wide range of outdoor musical events?
- Urban Music Festivals: Sections of Central are shut down on Sundays to accommodate the city’s domestic helpers; could a similar temporary pedestrianization of the city’s core provide a venue for a weekend music festival with multiple stages?
TRADITIONAL CHINESE PERFORMANCES:
Notwithstanding the evolving West Kowloon Cultural Centre, could there be additional incentives provided for the city’s local creative sector to study and perform traditional Chinese music and dance, which could culminate in a wide variety of performances and competitions that would attract tourists to the city?
- Incentives: Could the Government better incentivize local students and teachers to promote and play traditional Chinese musical instruments, instead of the ubiquitous piano and violin?
- Venues: Could a wider variety of traditional performances be provided in venues and areas with higher tourist densities?
- Free Music: Could there be a series of free daily musical and theater performances promoted throughout Hong Kong’s shopping centers, outdoor public areas and parks?
- Surprises: On a local level, could Guzheng and Pipa players add life to hidden Dai Pai Dongs and create surprises for tourists around every corner, incentivizing them to further explore the city’s fascinating neighborhoods?
LOCAL BANDS:
Hong Kong has a vibrant local contemporary music scene, but sadly an acute lack of performance venues is a major limiting factor. While local music promoters work tirelessly to promote the city’s homegrown musicians, venues like The Wanch and the now-closed Grappa’s Cellar are only among a handful of venues showcasing local talent — with many bands resorting to “illegal” performances in the dark corners of the city’s industrial buildings, unbeknownst to the average music-seeking tourist.
- Industrial Gigs: Could regulations be relaxed to allow for large spaces within industrial building to be used for musical performances, provided that local fire and life safety requirements could be fulfilled?
- New Venues: Could more permanent music-based venues be constructed to showcase local talent?
- Promotion: Could the Government more actively promote the local music scene and create local music festivals that might appeal to an international audience?
- Incentives: Could aspiring and existing musicians be provided with incentives and subsidies to contribute to the city’s music scene and its positive impact on tourism?
BUSKERS:
Local and transient “buskers” are a regular feature of many global cities and adds to the tourism experience. However, Hong Kong has had mixed reactions to these types of public street performers — who range from up-and-coming talented musicians to repulsive characters screeching off-key KTV tunes through deafening loudspeakers at passersby. When does outdoor street performance cross the line from being entertainment to becoming a public nuisance and a source of noise pollution?
- Curation: Could there be a licensing and vetting system put in place to provide a curated selection of the best performers at select areas, within prescribed hours while establishing maximum volume levels to maintain artistic expression throughout the city, yet respect society’s limits on what might be considered a nuisance?
- Incentives: Could talented traveling musicians be provided with free hotel accommodation in exchange for performances during their visit to Hong Kong?
- Venues: Could a new harbourfront promenade provide acoustically-separated zones for dozens of buskers along its length? Could there be non-residential districts that feature high concentrations of buskers?
THEATER & STAGE PERFORMANCE:
Hong Kong has a varied theatrical performance scene, which like other forms of entertainment in this space-starved city, has many performers clamoring for purpose-built venues to practice their craft in a professional environment. Could Hong Kong have a thriving performance scene like New York City that draws international visitors?
- Stand-Up Comedy: Soho’s Take Out Comedy has arguably had a massive positive impact on nurturing local talent to try their hand at stand-up comedy after its launch of the city’s first full-time comedy club more than a decade ago. Could there be incentives created to encourage the creation of more live performance venues, and subsidize events to create demand for local talent?
- Theatre: A dearth of venues result in waiting lists months long — could there be more black-box performance venues constructed for various types of theatrical and dramatic performances at the local level?
While the above ideas are by no means an exhaustive listing, it is hoped they will provide food for thought as to how Hong Kong might reinvent itself relative to future tourism.