Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law has said the one-and-a-half year old Kai Tak Sports Park's "decades-old" performance targets need a pragmatic overhaul, even though it is a top venue in Asia.

Law told RTHK in an exclusive interview that Kai Tak Sports Park has been a game changer for Hong Kong's economy, driving growth through major sporting events.

"The hosting of the National Games last year proves the point that Hong Kong is very capable of hosting a series of high-level competitions in different areas of sports," she said.

"Thereafter, we actually focus our energy on hosting high-level major international events in single areas, such as badminton, volleyball, table tennis and fencing not to mention rugby sevens."

But Law said the current performance indicators, which measure the venue's success by the number of "event days", were set years ago and fail to account for practical realities.

"Even a football match isn't just about that one day. When preparing – laying turf and maintaining turf quality – the better the pitch quality, the more time you need for maintenance," she said.

"These are things we need to consider when hosting sports events – we need to allocate that time. So in terms of meeting targets, we need to be pragmatic and up-to-date."

But Law insisted the park has already delivered significant economic benefits.

The summer Hong Kong Football Festival generated strong ticket sales and merchandise revenue, while pop-up stores and catering outlets at the park performed well.

She also noted that international events have drawn tourists who stayed for multiple days, boosting hotels and dining across the city.

Looking ahead, Law said Hong Kong will prioritise top-tier single-sport World Championships over bidding for the Olympics in the short-to-medium term.

"Hosting the Olympics would certainly be a national act, a national decision," she said.

"Given our current resource considerations and our short-to-medium-term sports development targets, focusing on top-level single-sport events and doing them well is a more important policy goal for us."

Beyond sports, Law said the sports park has transformed Hong Kong's ability to attract global superstar concerts.

"In the past, many friends might have said we were at a disadvantage in attracting superstar acts. But since Kai Tak Sports Park opened, we've seen that superstar acts are really interested in Hong Kong – many have already succeeded, and more will come," she said.

Ultimately, Law said there is always room for improvement for the sports park.


Edited by Aaron Tam