Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (September 25):

Question:

It has been reported that the hot air balloon festival held earlier on at the Central Harbourfront failed to arrange for hot air balloons to carry passengers because the relevant licences had not been granted, resulting in public dissatisfaction. There are views that the incident has damaged Hong Kong's reputation as an events capital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as the Government has indicated that, when vetting and approving the aforesaid event, the relevant departments observed that there were instances where hot air balloons were difficult to control, and therefore the licence granted did not include the carriage of passengers, but the organiser continued to use the hot air balloon passenger activities as the focus of its publicity subsequently, whether the Government will take follow-up actions in this regard;

(2) as it is learnt that the aforesaid activity was publicised on the Hong Kong Tourism Board's website, creating the false impression that it was officially endorsed, of the criteria adopted by the Board for selecting activities for publicity, and whether it will monitor the progress and quality of the activities concerned, in order to avoid embarrassing the Government when problems with the activities arise; and

(3) as there are views pointing out that many mega events held at government venues in the past two years have made disappointing arrangements, and the Government indicated in its reply to my supplementary question on January 8 this year that it would study a mechanism to prevent mega events from damaging Hong Kong's reputation, of the progress of the relevant work so far?

Reply:

President,

     In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Development Bureau, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Transport and Logistics Bureau, our reply to the question raised by the Hon Michael Tien is as follows:

     As the Chief Executive mentioned earlier, the Government plays three key roles, including regulating, promoting and venue renting, in the promotion of mega events and activities in Hong Kong. For events organised, funded or supported by the Government, the Government will do its utmost to ensure that the events comply with the legal requirement and are held properly. We also welcome events that the Government does not fund or participate in organising, especially novel and interesting events that are popular among the public and visitors. The Government will endeavour to facilitate and provide assistance, and will also help promote the events. However, it is crucial that all event organisers bear the responsibility to ensure the safe and orderly execution of their activities, and the strict compliance with all necessary license and permit requirements. For events involving high safety risks and technical requirements, the Government will strictly monitor them by prioritising safety and taking into account similar events held in Hong Kong and the organisers' experience and track record in hosting similar events in the past.

     Regarding the role of venue rental, the Government currently leases the Central Harbourfront Event Space, the venue for the Hong Kong International Hot Air Balloon Festival (the Festival), to a tenant on a short-term basis. The tenant then rents the space to external organisations for hosting events, leveraging market flexibility and creativity. The majority of events held are commercial arrangements between the hiring organisation and the tenant, with the tenant making its own decisions, subject to compliance with the lease agreement and regulations.

     My response to the three parts of the question is as follows:

(1) The Festival was a commercial event organised by a private entity and was not organised, funded or supported by the Government. In April this year, the organiser notified the relevant Government departments that it had leased the Central Harbourfront Event Space for the Festival and sought assistance in applying for the necessary permits. On July 8, the organiser applied for the necessary licenses (Note) from the relevant departments. Throughout the process, the relevant departments maintained close communication with the organiser, actively providing assistance and professional advice. However, in consideration that the results of the organiser's on-site hot air balloon demonstration on August 20 were unsatisfactory and the safety risks were significant, the relevant departments, after cautious and comprehensive consideration of public safety, informed the organiser during a meeting on August 27 that, only after an on-site hot air balloon demonstration could be successfully conducted would the relevant departments consider issuing the necessary licenses to display hot air balloons at the Festival. Regarding hot air balloons for carrying passengers, as the organiser stated that it could only conduct another demonstration one to two days before the Festival, the relevant departments clearly stated to the organiser at the meeting that, due to the tight time schedule, the chance of granting approval was extremely slim, and recommended the organiser to publicly announce the cancellation of the carrying passengers part as soon as possible and arrange refunds or other compensation for those who had already purchased the tickets. The organiser eventually conducted another demonstration on September 3, the day before the Festival. After cautious and comprehensive consideration of public safety, the relevant departments approved the display of hot air balloons at the Festival on September 4.

     Upon receipt of the complaints relating to the Festival, the Consumer Council and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) have been closely following up. Shortly after the incident, the Consumer Council urged the organiser to consider offering refunds to affected persons, and reminded ticketholders to retain the tickets and receipts for protecting their rights and interests in case of future claims. After the organiser announced a refund plan, the Consumer Council has called on the organiser to deploy additional staff to expedite the handling of telephone enquiries, confirm with the ticketholders who have submitted the claims and make refund arrangement before the promised deadline. The Consumer Council continues to maintain contact with the organiser and is following up on the complaints. Furthermore, the C&ED is also following up on the reports received. The C&ED will take appropriate enforcement action in case there are violations of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

(2) The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) considers and balances various factors when assessing the level of support for mega events, including whether the events can attract participation from the public and visitors; whether they can create positive global exposure and showcase Hong Kong's unique charm in culture, arts, sports and other areas; and whether they can demonstrate Hong Kong's strategic position.

     To support the efforts on tourism promotion, in addition to events organised or supported by the HKTB, the HKTB has also been featuring major events organised by the Government and large-scale events organised by other organisations on the Discover Hong Kong website in recent years. This website is continuously updated, providing public and visitors with a one-stop access to the latest event information and itinerary planning. However, the HKTB cannot guarantee the quality of events organised by private entities. Following this incident, the HKTB will introduce clear event categorisation or annotations on its website so that the public will know who the event organiser is. If there are any issues arising from an event, the HKTB will provide timely updates to its website based on available information, including removing the events from the website in the first instance.
 
(3) In response to the question from the Hon Tien at the Legislative Council meeting on January 8, I stated that we would continuously review the terms of Government funded events to ensure that the funding provided was value for money, added value to Hong Kong, and did not damage Hong Kong's reputation. In fact, we had already completed the review on the "M" Mark Major Sports Events and the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund, and announced measures to strengthen the vetting mechanism and subsequent monitoring, and provide more targeted financial support for events that attract tourist participation.

     ​As for the venue for the Festival, the Central Harbourfront Event Space, the current tenancy will be terminated in June 2026. The Development Bureau is preparing to launch re-tendering of the short-term tenancy in the fourth quarter of this year. Based on the experience over the years, the Development Bureau will enhance the relevant tenancy terms so as to make good use of the site for activities of different kinds, while strengthening management of the venue from the perspective of risk management by, say, imposing a stronger gatekeeping role on the tenant, and putting in place an early alert and notification mechanism for timely and appropriate intervention by the Development Bureau.

Note: These include the "Non-scheduled Service Permit" issued by the Civil Aviation Department and the "Temporary Places of Public Entertainment Licence" issued by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

Ends/Thursday, September 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 10:00

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