When Coldplay returned after 15 years to carry out in Hong Kong’s newly-opened Kai Tak Sports activities Park this month, it wasn’t only a live performance for town, it was additionally a curtain-raiser on its ambitions to change into Asia’s subsequent leisure powerhouse.
The live shows, a part of the band’s Music of the Spheres world tour, marked the primary main worldwide act to carry out on the 50,000-seat venue, which formally opened in March after years of anticipation. Over 4 nights from 8 to 12 April, Kai Tak welcomed some 200,000 followers – not simply locals, however guests from internationally who turned the gigs into mini holidays, full with sightseeing, meals crawls, and even charity work.
For American traveller Shawn Perrin, who flew in for 3 days simply to catch his fourth Coldplay live performance after exhibits in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Helsinki, the expertise was seamless.
“The live performance was nice, nearly as good as those I’ve caught elsewhere,” he instructed The Straits Occasions, praising the group administration, accessibility, and general vibe of the night.
One other customer, 27-year-old Jay Dela Cruz Ingles Jnr from the Philippines, made the Coldplay journey a household affair.
“It was simply jaw-dropping as we have been strolling in direction of the stadium, the structure alone is magnificent,” he instructed The South China Morning Publish.
Ingles and his 5 relations stayed for 4 nights, spending HK$4,000 (£388) on hostel rooms, exploring Disneyland, Tai Kwun, the Chi Lin Nunnery, and even mountain climbing Braemar Hill. Additionally they took half in volunteer work with native charities.
“Meals was additionally probably the most notable bills right here. Fortunately, we found ‘two-dish rice’,” Ingles mentioned, referring to Hong Kong’s beloved funds takeaway meals.
Guests like Ingles have been half of a bigger tourism windfall: Coldplay’s four-night run is estimated to have generated HK$1.2bn (£116.5m) in financial worth, in response to a strategy developed by Professor Haiyan Track of Polytechnic College’s College of Resort and Tourism Administration, reported the SCMP.
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The calculation took under consideration vacationer spending, ticket costs, and viewers dimension, with Tourism Board information exhibiting in a single day guests spend a median of HK$5,490 (£533) per journey and keep for about 3.2 nights.
“The vacationer earnings yearly in Hong Kong is about HK$260bn (£25bn), so HK$1.2bn from solely 4 nights is an enormous quantity already,” mentioned Professor Track.
Eating places and bars across the venue too reported a 5 to 10 per cent uptick in site visitors, in response to Kowloon Metropolis district councillor Razwin Ullah. “I noticed many international vacationers inside these institutions,” he mentioned. “I can simply inform who’s native and who’s not.”
A number of bar house owners, he added, instructed him the weekend crowd felt extra like a pageant than a daily evening out. Even with all of the anticipation, Kai Tak’s debut wasn’t with out its flaws. Within the run-up to the exhibits, some concertgoers reported receiving misprinted bodily tickets, which have been nonetheless required for entry. Cityline, the ticketing platform, later apologised after the tourism chief publicly voiced concern.
Some followers additionally felt the power exterior the venue was missing. Not like different main stops on the band’s tour, like Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, Hong Kong didn’t provide fan zones, pre-concert singalongs, or picture cubicles, and the stadium’s closed roof meant no fireworks.
Regardless of the teething troubles, the general sentiment has been largely constructive, with many hoping the success of Coldplay’s exhibits will mark the start of extra large-scale performances within the metropolis.
“There was an absence of high-quality worldwide bands coming to Hong Kong in recent times,” a fan recognized solely as David, who has additionally seen the band dwell in Singapore, instructed The Straits Occasions.
“Hopefully that is the beginning of extra worldwide acts and occasions coming to town.”
To bolster Hong Kong’s attraction, the live shows got here simply earlier than a month stuffed with headline occasions town was scheduled to carry. The Hong Kong Sevens, Artwork Basel, Artwork Central, and LIV Golf all contributed in direction of town’s efforts to string collectively mega-events and preserve guests engaged for longer.
Lawmaker Vincent Cheng famous a visual rise in vacationer numbers round east Tsim Sha Tsui in the course of the interval, particularly amongst Asian and mainland Chinese language travellers.
“We do hope that authorities’ technique of stringing a variety of occasions collectively may also help guests keep longer … however we additionally acknowledge there’s competitors,” he mentioned.
True to Cheng’s phrases, there’s certainly stiff competitors. Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney have already set the bar with their slick venues and regular stream of worldwide acts. However with Kai Tak Sports activities Park now in play, Hong Kong has a renewed likelihood to stake its declare, so long as it might match not simply the logistics, but additionally ship the sort of electrical environment followers anticipate from a world-stage efficiency.
