Speech by Commissioner for Tourism at press conference of FIA Formula E Hong Kong E-Prix (English only)
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Ali (Chief Marketing Officer of Formula E Holdings (FEH), Mr Ali Russell), Alan (Chief Executive Officer of Formula Electric Racing (Hong Kong) Limited (FERHK), Mr Alan Fang), Peter (Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr Peter Lam), Lawrence (Honorary Life President of the Hong Kong Automobile Association, Mr Lawrence Yu), Kenneth (President of the Hong Kong Automobile Association, Mr Kenneth Ng), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. I think today all of us are very excited and delighted to welcome the return of the FIA Formula E Championship to Hong Kong in December this year. Not only that Hong Kong is chosen to be the season opener of Formula E again, we will be the first Asian city to hold the double-header race in the Formula E's history. Now, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Alan and Ali for the choice of Hong Kong. This demonstrates a vote of confidence in Hong Kong as the events capital of Asia and a vivid testimony of Hong Kong's professionalism in delivering first-rate services and support for mega events.
Last year's Formula E Championship in Hong Kong was a huge success. The race was able to draw extensive international media coverage. Its live broadcast showcased our city's splendid skyline and iconic harbour view to the world. All these helped further raise Hong Kong tourism appeal to various visitor markets. For this year's event, we look forward to achieving a greater level of success. With the double-header race, it is expected that the number of spectators will double the figure of last year and the number of overseas visitors will also increase. As in last year, the Hong Kong E-Prix will continue to draw high value-added overnight visitors to Hong Kong.
And I would like to thank the organiser for sharing our vision to organise the event as more than just a car race. The Tourism Commission has established a platform for the organiser and our tourism trade to collaborate and develop various tourism packages to ride on this opportunity to entice more travellers to Hong Kong.
Moreover, there is another breakthrough of the event this year. It has always been Government's objective to equally bring joy to the locals through such mega events. With our encouragement to the organiser to increase public participation and enjoyment of the event, the organiser will provide a total of 20 000 tickets to the community for free admission to the E-village. I understand that there will be a lot of activities going on in the E-village for the public to share the fun and excitement of this car race. My thanks to the organiser for this thoughtful arrangement. The Government has also invited the Hong Kong Tourism Board to help promote this event as in last year. My thanks to Peter, here.
Last year, all those involved in the organisation of the event including the FEH, the FERHK, the Hong Kong Automobile Association and relevant government departments formed a great team to put up the first ever Formula E Championship in Hong Kong. I am confident about staging another good show this year. Central gets set for becoming a giant racetrack, and I look forward to seeing all of you and the gorgeous race cars on the track in December. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:20
Issued at HKT 18:20
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