Opinion | How Hong Kong can give the world reasons to fall back in love with it

Hong Kong is at a crossroads. The city needs to completely rethink its role globally and see how it can reinvent its brand and the way it is perceived. Hong Kong’s reputation as a residential, career or holiday destination has deteriorated over the years. We must change this for the better to be internationally competitive.

So how do we change the narrative and present the new Hong Kong? I believe the answer is to focus on becoming an international lifestyle centre, in parallel with our role as a global financial centre. If Hong Kong is to successfully attract new talent, create a family office hub and remain internationally competitive, it needs to offer a lifestyle that the world desires.

Pre-pandemic, in 2018, Hong Kong had a record 65 million visitors, of which 51 million were from mainland China. Now, in a post-pandemic world, we should be more ambitious. We need to keep and grow our mainland visitor numbers, but we must also find compelling reasons to attract regional and international visitors. Vital to our success will be to think more holistically and strategically.

Consider entertainment. Jay Chou’s series of concerts at the Central Harbourfront this month sold out, attracting fans not just from Hong Kong and the mainland, but also Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Hong Kong needs to become a must-stop destination when global artists tour Asia. At the same time, we must coordinate with major business and cultural events to attract the right visitor demographics and create win-win attractions.

Sports must be also key. The Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament was part of our announcement to the world that the city is getting back to business after the pandemic. We have the new Kai Tak stadium opening in 2024 that will seat 50,000 people. We should be working strategically with football nations now to attract world-class teams to play invitation matches. Imagine the interest we would create regionally if Manchester City played Inter Milan for a Champions League rematch in Hong Kong?