LCQ20: Ticketing system operated under LCSD
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Question:
Despite the decline in the annual number of tickets sold on the Urban Ticketing System (URBTIX) under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) from about 5 million in 2012 to about 3.28 million last year, the expenditure on its system management has risen instead of falling. In addition, some groups from the performing arts and culture sectors have indicated that URBTIX, unlike some private ticketing systems, does not provide value-added services such as publicity, promotion and audience data analysis, and its function are limited and outdated. This hinders performing groups from attracting more audiences and increasing revenue, and fails to align with the Government's policy objective of promoting the introduction of a market-based business model into the LCSD venues. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is learnt that hirers or event presenters of the LCSD performance venues may now choose whether to use URBTIX for sale of tickets, of the relevant policy and charges, and whether the hirers or event presenters will receive any discount for opting for URBTIX;
(2) of the respective figures for the past three years on the use of URBTIX or other ticketing systems by hirers or event presenters of the LCSD performance venues, including the number of performances involved, the number of performance days, and the number of tickets sold (with the relevant information set out in a table);
(3) among the performance programmes held in the past three years at non-LCSD performance venues built with public funds (such as certain harbourfront sites, the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Kai Tak Sports Park), of the number of programmes for which tickets were put up for sale on URBTIX;
(4) whether it has reviewed and analysed the reasons for the continuous decline in the number of tickets sold on URBTIX, including whether it has compiled statistics on the instances where, and the reasons why, performing groups (regardless of whether their programmes were held at the LCSD venues) opted for other ticketing systems; if so, of the outcome; if not, whether such a review and analysis will be conducted;
(5) as the authorities indicated, in reply to my written question on June 15, 2022, that functions such as customer relationship management, business intelligence and ticket sales data analysis would be rolled out progressively on URBTIX to meet the marketing and promotional needs of event presenters, of the situation regarding the rollout and usage of these functions to date;
(6) as some performing groups have queried that the contractual terms between the LCSD and the operator of URBTIX lack financial incentives for the operator to improve services and provide more value-added services, when their existing contract will expire, and whether the LCSD will review the contractual terms to increase such financial incentives; and
(7) whether it will conduct a comprehensive review of the ticketing systems and policies of the LCSD venues, with a view to enhancing the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of URBTIX, better aligning with the policy objective of introducing the market-based business model, and further promoting the long-term development of Hong Kong's arts, culture and creative industries?
Reply:
President,
The reply to the question raised by the Hon Kenneth Fok is as follows:
(1) Hirers may choose whether or not to use the Urban Ticketing System (URBTIX) for the sale and issue of tickets for programmes held at performance venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). For each ticket sold on or issued by URBTIX, hirers are required to pay the LCSD a charge of $8.7 (inclusive of ticketing system service fee payable to the contractor of URBTIX). Hirers under the "Concessionary Rates for Non-profit Organisations Scheme" of LCSD may enjoy a 50 per cent discount.
In respect of the hiring of venues, the hire charge of LCSD performance venues is calculated based on the basic hire charge or a specified percentage of the gross ticket proceeds of the event, whichever greater. In general, hirers are required to pay in advance a deposit calculated based on ticket proceeds for full house attendance. For hirers which choose to use URBTIX, the LCSD will deduct the relevant deposit from URBTIX ticket proceeds after tickets are put on sale, relieving hirers' burden of paying a substantial amount of deposit in advance. This arrangement provides an incentive for more hirers to use URBTIX.
(2) The relevant figures of events held at the LCSD performance venues using URBTIX or other ticketing systems from 2023 to 2025 are tabulated as follows:
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||
| Number of events | Using URBTIX | 927 | 977 | 964 |
| Not using URBTIX | 234 | 305 | 408 | |
| Number of performances | Using URBTIX | 2 541 | 2 575 | 2 923 |
| Not using URBTIX | 547 | 655 | 935 | |
| Number of tickets issued by URBTIX (Based on the events completed in the respective year) |
2.05 million | 2.32 million | 2.17 million | |
(3) The relevant figures of events held at non-LCSD performance venues (including the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Youth Square, the Kai Tak Sports Park, cinemas, specific sites and spaces, venues at tertiary institutions etc.) with tickets sold on or issued by URBTIX from 2023 to 2025 are tabulated as follows:
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Number of events | 135 | 136 | 96 |
| Number of performances | 909 | 954 | 760 |
| Number of tickets issued by URBTIX (Based on the events completed in the respective year) |
117 730 | 120 226 | 125 348 |
(4) The total number of tickets issued by URBTIX is affected by various factors, including the hiring situation of performance venues, scale of events, programming and promotion strategies of event organisers, and market demand. At the same time, different event organisers may also collaborate with other commercial ticketing platforms in the market to promote the programmes and sell tickets through multiple channels based on their business considerations.
URBTIX operates under a public-private partnership approach, and achieved a cost recovery of over 110 per cent and over 95 per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively. The LCSD will continue to review the operation of URBTIX, work with the system contractor to enhance the relevant functions and services taking into account market conditions, and actively respond to the needs of event organisers, with a view to providing ticketing solutions and value-added services that better cater to their events.
(5) Since December 2022, URBTIX has progressively introduced new, advanced and enhanced functions, which include functions that cater to marketing and promotional needs of event organisers (such as customer relationship management, business intelligence, application programming interface (API), customer survey and priority booking for target audiences etc.). Event organisers may select different functions to complement their event promotion strategies.
For example, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong International Film Festival made use of the API to manage season subscription and priority booking through designated credit card(s); and the "WTT Finals Hong Kong 2025" conducted customer survey upon patrons' completion of ticket transactions. For the two large-scale musicals to be staged at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre later this year, to dovetail with their respective priority booking campaigns, the API and priority booking for target audiences have been selected for use respectively. The LCSD will maintain liaison with event organisers to gather their feedback, and work with the system contractor to enhance and refine the functions of URBTIX continually.
(6) Tianjin Maoyan Weying Technology Co., Ltd. was commissioned by the LCSD in October 2020 through an open tender procurement arrangement to provide the ticketing system and operation services for URBTIX. The contract covers an implementation period for system development, followed by a seven-year operation period running from December 1, 2022 (i.e. the system launch date) to November 30, 2029.
To encourage service enhancement, the terms of the contract stipulated that the contractor may propose to the LCSD revenue-generating business operational arrangements to sustain the continuous smooth operation and software upgrades of the ticketing system. The LCSD may also request the contractor to adjust the system or its services for enhancing ticketing functions and upgrading system provisions. In fact, the current contractor has introduced a number of new enhancements and add-on services, such as offering online sales of electronic museum passes for the LCSD museums and providing an enhanced ballot ticketing service for pop music concert organisers.
(7) The LCSD will conduct a technical feasibility study on the future development of URBTIX, covering a review of the ticketing system and services. The study will gather and consider the views of various stakeholders, examine different business models, explore the latest technological trends and service demands in local and non-local ticketing markets, and evaluate the technical specifications and applications of the ticketing system, with a view to formulating a suitable long-term business strategy.
Ends/Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:55
Issued at HKT 11:55
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