Hong Kong: An assessment of 20 major sports events that took place in Hong Kong during 2017 shows that the Hong Kong economy benefited by HK$2.1 billion, according to a joint study by KPMG and the Business of Sport Network (BOSN).
The study highlights that the hosting of major sports events, such as the Hong Kong Open at Hong Kong Golf Club, can have multiple benefits for an organising country or city.
In Hong Kong, spectators have generated HK$1.1 billion economic impact in 2017 – 21 per cent of them are international spectators and account for 88 per cent of the economic impact of spectators.
Participants and event organisers contributed HK$200 million and HK$800 million, respectively. The total HK$2.1 billion economic impact is similar to that from the US Open, the study finds.
Alastair Graham, Director of Global Sports Network, KPMG China, said: “Sports as a global business has changed significantly in recent years, and the challenges faced by public institutions, sports clubs and federations have grown increasingly complex. Countries and cities compete for major sports events to showcase themselves on an ever more crowded international stage and, at the same time, to secure maximum economic and social benefits.”
The study shows that 85 per cent of Hong Kong’s event portfolio are ‘recurring events’, their long-term growth is crucial as they look to become fixed in the Hong Kong calendar for many years to come.
Meanwhile, participations events – where the majority attendees are participants – generated HK$167 million economic impact on average, higher than HK$105 million for spectator events.
For Hong Kong to build on 2017 and realise its vision of becoming a destination for major sports events, the following four pillars are fundamental:

• Developing more events: Securing, growing and sustaining a strong major sports event calendar on an annual basis
• Developing the industry: Bringing the industry together to create a thriving, unified sector with commercial expertise
• Developing sport: Achieving the aim of increased participation and ensuring impact and legacy are maximised and recognised
• Developing Hong Kong: Sustaining Hong Kong’s image as Asia’s world city.

Melvin Byres, Founder, Business of Sport Network, said: “Statistics like these show that Hong Kong has taken big steps forward when it comes to developing new event concepts and hosting mass-spectator sports events in Asia.
“With further investments being made and more emphasis being placed on developing the sports from grassroots upwards, there has never been more interest in the industry. Now is prime time for Hong Kong to compete with the markets such as the US and Europe to host the premier international sports events that will not only appeal to the local market, but also bring in spectators from around the world.”