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The Government today (June 28) announced that after careful deliberations, the Mega Events Fund (MEF) Assessment Committee has decided to earmark a maximum of $18 million to support three mega events to be held in Hong Kong in the third round of applications.
"The three events (dragon boat carnival and tennis and women's golf competitions) are all international events which will take place between July 2010 and May 2011. They will add colour and variety to Hong Kong's already rich tourism calendar. Apart from attracting more visitors to Hong Kong and enriching their travel experience, these events will also help enhance Hong Kong's international profile and raise its status as the events capital of Asia," a government spokesman said.
"It is expected that over 83,000 visitors and local people will participate in these events," he added.
Details of the three selected events are as follows :
(1) The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival
The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association and the Hong Kong Tourism Board will hold this event along the East Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade from July 23 to 25 this year. The re-launching of the race in Victoria Harbour helps build Hong Kong's position as the centre of international dragon boat racing and develop the event into a world-class dragon boat carnival. Over 100 local and 30 overseas dragon boat teams will take part in the race, which is expected to attract about 44,000 spectators, including 7,000 visitors. A maximum of $5 million has been earmarked for this event.
(2) Hong Kong Tennis Classic 2011 "World Team Challenge"
The Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association will hold this international tennis tournament from January 5 to 8, 2011, in Victoria Park. Riding on the success of the 2010 event, it will continue to adopt the "World Team Challenge" format, featuring four international teams with world-class tennis players from Europe, Russia, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific to compete for the championship in 16 matches. A maximum of $5 million has been earmarked for this event.
(3) The Hong Kong Women's Open
This is the first ever international women's golf event to take place in Hong Kong. Organised by the Hong Kong Golf Association, it will take place from late April to early May 2011 at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. This seven-day ladies golf tournament is one of the largest international world-class golf events and over 100 top professional women golf players and more than 2,200 overseas visitors are expected to participate in it. Admission to the tournament will be free. A maximum of $8 million has been earmarked for this event.
The Assessment Committee, chaired by Mr Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung and comprising members from relevant fields, made the decision after carefully considering the 18 applications received in this round. The assessment has taken into account a number of factors, such as the economic, publicity and other benefits of the event; the scale of the event; the capability and track record of applicants; and the technical feasibility and budget of proposals.
The $100 million MEF was established in May last year to implement the Financial Secretary's 2009-10 Budget initiative to assist local non-profit organisations to host more attractive arts, cultural and sports events up to March 31, 2012, in order to further promote Hong Kong as the events capital of Asia.
The fourth round of applications will commence in September 2010. For details of the fund, please visit the MEF dedicated website (www.tourism.gov.hk/english/mef/mef.html). Interested parties are also welcome to contact the MEF secretariat (tel: 2810 2500; fax: 2121 8791; email: mefsecretariat@cedb.gov.hk).
Ends/Monday, June 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:50
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