- More than 50 cultural or entertainment events and exhibitions have been called off or postponed, leaving fans disappointed and organisers counting their losses
- With disruptions at airport, MTR stations and shopping malls making the news internationally, visitor arrivals have tumbled 40 per cent year on year
Christy, a 20-year-old law student in Britain, was looking forward to her summer break back home in Hong Kong and catching a concert by her favourite K-pop boy band, GOT7.
Her heart sank when the band's concerts on August 31 and September 1 were postponed "due to unforeseen circumstances resulting from the latest social situation in Hong Kong", according to its agency, JYP Entertainment. There were also concerns about the safety of fans at the Hong Kong stop of the band's world tour.
"I bought tickets very early on through a channel for fans as I really wanted to get front-row tickets," said Christy, who declined to be named in full. "I spent more than HK$2,000 (US$256) on a ticket."
She got a refund, but remained sorely disappointed.
"I definitely was looking forward to it," said the GOT7 fan of about three years.
The seven-member band's concerts are among more than 50 cultural or entertainment events and exhibitions that have been cancelled or postponed because of ongoing and increasingly violent anti-government protests that have lasted for more than three months.
With disruptions at the airport, MTR stations and shopping malls making the news internationally, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong have tumbled 40 per cent year on year. A total of 34 countries or territories have also issued travel warnings or alerts for those planning to visit the city.
Hong Kong police brace for another weekend with clashes expected at Lennon Walls
The cancellations of major events mean significant losses affecting organisers, venues and thousands of participants, although the cost to them and the economy has yet to be worked out.
AsiaWorld-Expo, home to Hong Kong's biggest purpose-built indoor entertainment arena, saw four concerts cancelled or postponed in August and September, including GOT7's shows and a gig by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches.
Ticket prices for the AsiaWorld-Expo events went for between HK$488 and HK$2,388. The gigs were to be held in different venues within the complex, with two in the Arena which has a maximum capacity of 14,000.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which manages several performance venues including the Cultural Centre and City Hall, said 25 cultural programmes or events had been cancelled between July 1 and September 8 because of the ongoing protests.
The Academy of Performing Arts saw nine events cancelled or rescheduled, including the award-winning West End hit show Matilda the Musical.
The highly anticipated musical was set to run in the 1,181-seater Lyric Theatre for a month, having earlier extended its planned run by two weeks because of popular demand. Ticket prices ranged from HK$445 to HK$1,245.
The musical's organisers said the unrest in Hong Kong had hit ticket sales and they could not guarantee the safety and well-being of the company.
Beijing warns protests threaten Hong Kong after race meeting called off
Kowloon Bay International Trade and Exhibition Centre has had 17 events cancelled, and one small exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre has been called off.
Yiu Si-wing, a lawmaker for the tourism sector, says overseas acts come to Hong Kong because of its global city status and simpler procedures. The city was also popular with travelling concertgoers, including those from the mainland.
A spokesman for the Performing Industry Association says a conservative estimate is that about 650,000 visitors a year " or 1 per cent of those who stay overnight " attend a concert while in Hong Kong.
The current situation has had a significant impact on the performing industry and concert tourism, he says. "If the situation continues, we expect more shows will be affected, either postponed or cancelled in the last quarter of this year and first quarter of next year," he warns.
The sharp fall in visitors is hitting businesses across the tourism industry, including hotels, shops and food and beverage establishments.
Yiu, chairman of China Travel Service, says visitors make up a third of total retail consumption in Hong Kong. Retail sales in July fell 11.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to official data.
Average hotel occupancy is also down from more than 90 per cent for the first half of the year to around 60 per cent last month, adds Yiu, who fears the situation will worsen this month.
We're not fighting for independence, says Hong Kong activist Brian Leung
The trend of events being called off looks likely to continue and there are rumours a major music awards ceremony will not be held in Hong Kong this year, after the city hosted it for the past seven years.
The Post learned from South Korean entertainment company CJ E&M that AsiaWorld-Expo is still booked for the Mnet Asian Music Awards, more commonly known MAMA, in the last week of November. However, it has not yet been announced officially, which is unusual because the event's location is usually revealed in late August.
On Chinese social media site Weibo, mainland fans have complained about concerts being cancelled, with one calling it "the regret of the year".
Although Hongkonger Christy says that although not seeing her favourite boy band was disappointing, she is not angry with the protesters who have disrupted life in Hong Kong for more than three months.
"I completely do not blame the protesters at all," she says. "This is Hong Kong and we have freedom of expression."
Travel Industry Council executive director Alice Chan Cheung Lok-yee says travel agents in her group saw tour numbers from Asia and the mainland fall 90 per cent in the first half of this month.
She warns that as more events in Hong Kong are cancelled, a negative message goes out to travellers everywhere.
"These cancellations are a confirmation that Hong Kong is very unsafe," she says.
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.