Hong Kong plans sporting events, record attempt to lure tourists

Oct 22, 2009, 10:04 GMT

   Hong Kong - An international yacht race never previously held in Asia and a tennis world team challenge are among six events that are to be held for the first time in Hong Kong in an effort to lure more tourists to the territory, officials said Thursday.

   The six events are forecast to attract 140,000 participants, said Jeffrey Lam, chairman of the government's Mega Events Fund assessment committee.

   Lam did not give an estimate as to how many visitors the events were expected to attract.

   But the latest figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board showed the number of visitors to Hong Kong dropped 3.4 per cent in the first eight months of the year from the same period last year to 18.9 million.

   There was a 12.7-per-cent fall to 4.2 million travellers coming from Asian countries and a 10.1-per-cent drop to 2.7 million in the number of people coming from long-haul areas, including Europe and North America.

   Among the six events, the yachting competition is to be the first time the Louis Vuitton trophy race would be held in Asia. The event is planned from October to December 2010 in Victoria Harbour and is expected to attract the world's fastest racing yachts and top sailors.