Following the cancellation of the Victoria Harbour National Day fireworks display, Hong Kong cancelled the New year fireworks display and changed it to the online live broadcast enhanced version of the Lighting Music Show, when fireworks will be set off on the roof of some buildings.
This is the first time in 10 years that Hong Kong has cancelled the Lunar New year fireworks display, accompanied by the number of visitors who have plummeted over the past month and the violence conflict. That is still on from time to time.
On December 17, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said that after a risk assessment, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) decided to cancel the New Year`s Eve (New Year`s Day New year) fireworks display and replace it with a 10-minute enhanced version of the "Phantom Yong Xiangjiang" lantern music show.
At that time, fireworks will be set off on the roof of some buildings, and a large countdown clock will also be installed on the exterior wall of Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Centre. In previous years, the live performance program will be held indoors. The countdown event will be watched by the live broadcast, public online and will also take part in the draw, with more than 10,000 prizes.
Victoria Harbour fireworks display data Map Source: Sing Tao Daily
Peng Yaojia, chairman of the HKTB, pointed out that hundreds of thousands of people watch the countdown activities on both sides of the strait every year, but the current social atmosphere has to consider whether it is appropriate to do so again. Cheng Dingyi, director-general of the HKTB, said that although members of the public took to the streets to celebrate the countdown in any case, the HKTB had to consider public safety if it had the opportunity to gather a large number of people.
The South China Morning Post said it was the first time in 10 years that Hong Kong had cancelled the New year fireworks display after police sources said Hong Kong had been shrouded in violence unrest since June and expressed serious concern about the safety of an event that would attract hundreds of thousands of viewers.
The HKTB held New Year`s Eve`s countdown for the first time in 2009, issuing large fireworks on the roofs of a number of buildings and the State Gold Phase II, and a few years later upgraded to a large fireworks display in Victoria Harbour, which cost HK $14 million last year.
Today, although the enhanced version of "Mirage Yong Xiangjiang" also has fireworks elements, but the scale is much smaller than in the past, and the organizers are still discussing with the owners which buildings can set off fireworks.
Hong Kong media revealed that the HKTB was still preparing for New Year`s Eve`s fireworks display last month, but then there was another fierce violence conflict. In Hong Kong. After assessing the demonstration situation after the district parliament election on the 24th of last month, the Bureau finally decided to cancel the fireworks display before the "dead line". The fireworks ordered have not yet been shipped to Hong Kong for Kaifeng, so there is no need to destroy fireworks in the waters of the Islands after the cancellation of the National Day fireworks display in the past three times.
A variety of violence conflict caused by the "amendment storm" has led Hong Kong to cancel a number of activities. In September, government cancelled the National Day fireworks display scheduled to be held in Victoria on the evening of October 1 because of public safety considerations. On November 27, Hong Kong Disneyland announced the cancellation of the "Disney wonderful countdown party" on the evening of December 31, retaining only the countdown to hotel guests.
At the end of last month, the HKTB also said that there would be major changes in the rodent parade next year, with the proposed four-day Lunar New year Carnival for tourists to "punch in". The Hong Kong Spring Festival Parade, which has been held since 1996, is generally arranged in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is also the "worst-hit area" of violence conflict recently.
The number of visitors to Hong Kong plummeted
On the 17th, the HKTB released a new set of figures: the number of visitors to Hong Kong again plummeted by 56 percent in November, and the number of daily visitors to Hong Kong fell sharply to about 88000 in November from 200000 in the same period last year, the biggest decline since the SARS crisis in 2003.
During the period when the campuses of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Polytechnic University were occupied by thugs in November, the railway and traffic in Hong Kong were semi-paralyzed. At that time, the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong fell by 67%, and the number of visitors to the short-distance market was also greatly impacted. In the first 10 December, visitors to Hong Kong dropped 50% compared with the same period last year, indicating that the decline showed no sign of moderating. From January to November this year, the total number of visitors to Hong Kong was 52 million, down 10% from the same period last year.
Cheng Dingyi, Director-General of the HKTB, admitted that he did not dare to place high hopes on the recovery of the number of visitors to Hong Kong on Christmas Day, but would continue to publicize Hong Kong overseas. The "HONG KONG IS ON" concessionary promotion will be launched from December 6, mainly attracting visitors from Asian markets such as South Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Today (17), the Hong Kong version of the platform will be launched so that Hong Kong people can enjoy discounts.
Tourism, one of Hong Kong`s pillar industries, has recently been hit hard. From September to November 2019, the unemployment rate in consumer and tourism-related sectors (retail, accommodation and catering services) rose further to 5.2 percent, the highest level in three years, according to the latest figures released by the government on the 16th. Among them, the unemployment rate in catering activities rose to 6.2%, the highest level in more than eight years.
