Macau to open 80,000-seat outdoor venue as Hong Kong embraces mega events

“We are grateful to the Hong Kong government and Chief Executive John Lee [Ka-chiu], who has given us a lot of advice. We are just like brothers and we will grow together.”

Ho said that hosting more mega events, ranging from concerts to sports tournaments, was one of Macau’s economic development goals.

“We are determined to finish a new performance venue that can house at least 50,000 people and even 80,000 by the end of this year, and to be launched next year,” he said. “Currently, we have already received many international inquiries.”

But he has yet to announce the location of the temporary outdoor venue, and Macau media has previously reported it would be far from residential areas.

Ho said the special administrative region would focus on developing its performing arts and mega events capacity to fulfil its “city of performing arts” role as laid out in his policy address this year.

He spoke at a briefing under the Beijing-organised media tour “Opportunities in Macau” for mainland China and local reporters. The tour aims to promote the Greater Bay Area, Beijing’s plan to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province into a hi-tech economic powerhouse by 2035.

Macau has been a popular concert destination for Hong Kong and overseas singers in recent years. Korean girl group Blackpink played at the Galaxy Arena as part of its world tour last year.

But Ho noted Macau still lacked large performance venues, especially outdoor ones, saying: “We have hosted a show with 20,000 audience members, but residents living nearby were greatly affected. I had to apologise to them.”

In January, Macau media reported that residents of Taipa had lodged 90 complaints to the Environmental Protection Bureau for excessive noise during Korean boy band Seventeen’s concert at the Olympic Sports Centre in the area.

Besides performing arts shows, the city would also aim to host more international sports events, with a goal of two per month, he added. He pointed out that 6,500 tickets for the International Table Tennis Federation World Cup, held at the Galaxy Arena in April, sold out in about “two seconds”.

“Quality sporting events are attractive to a certain extent, as residents and youth in the Greater Bay Area will come here to watch,” Ho said. “In this aspect, we are confident it will greatly impact Macau’s economy.”

Separately, the director of Macau’s Tourism Board, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, told reporters at another briefing the tourism industries of the neighbouring cities were “on the same boat” rather than in direct competition.

“Yesterday, when we had the opening of a gourmet carnival, our friends from the tourism industry in Hong Kong came to support us, so we also went to Hong Kong to participate in their tourism exhibition.

“We think this kind of cooperation should continue,” Senna Fernandes said.

Commenting on the relationship between Hong Kong and Macau, Pansy Ho Chiu-king, vice-president in the Macau Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said Hong Kong was at no risk of being replaced as an international financial hub, but the city would need to catch up on new investment trends.

“I think if we look at these few years of the internet era, investment opportunities are in emerging industries, new energy, artificial intelligence and augmented reality,” she said. “Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre will not be eliminated, but it needs some time to catch up with new technologies as we need new stories to attract investors.”

As for Macau, Pansy Ho said the city’s extensive high-end hotels and its connected transport network within the bay area were strengths for its tourism hub mission “not found anywhere else”.

Hong Kong lawmaker Adrian Pedro Ho King-hong of the New People’s Party dismissed concerns the new Macau venue would threaten Hong Kong because the Kai Tak Sports Park “has better facilities”.

“Even though the capacity of the Macau venue is bigger, it does not mean Hong Kong is at a disadvantage,” he said. “The Kai Tak Sports Park has an indoor venue, more catering facilities and more comfortable [seating] for spectators.”

But Adrian Ho admitted that some “healthy competition” between Hong Kong and Macau still existed, and called on authorities in the financial hub to step up efforts to attract more international artists to host their shows in the city.

“Hongkongers play a significant role in organising concerts in Macau,” he said. “There must be some room for the Hong Kong government to negotiate with the trade.”

Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong agreed, saying the new venues in both cities could create economic synergy.

“You would often see Hong Kong artists or production units when there’s a show in Macau,” he said. “We need to see this from a wider perspective … when there are more tourists in Macau and Zhuhai, Hong Kong will benefit too. It also works the other way around.”