Tourism chief: studies underway to rebuild Victoria Park tennis court

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law says technical studies are underway to rebuild the Victoria Park tennis court, with aims to begin construction within the next five years.

She also hopes the venue can "at least" host tournament-level events to boost Hong Kong's tourism.

Victoria Park Centre Court, boasting a history of over four decades, features a main arena with approximately 3,600 spectator seats.

The latest Policy Address reveals that studies are underway to redevelop it into an all-weather multi-purpose venue to host higher-level sports events and performances, promoting the city's "sports + mega events."

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law says technical studies are conducted now on the direction to redevelop the site -- with the possibility to divide it into a main stadium and one or two secondary halls or stadiums.

They hope the main stadium can host ATP500 tournament-level events with 7,000 spectator seats.

Law says if resources and other requirements are met to ratchet up the capacity to top 10,000 spectator seats for ATP500 tour-level events, the construction period will be longer.

But that will provide a good platform for Hong Kong athletes to take part in top-tier tennis tournaments with "wild card spots" -- meaning special invitation or discretionary entry given to players by tournament organisers to enter the main draw or qualifying draw without having a high enough world ranking.

In off seasons, these facilities can also be open to the public.

And whether the facility will be completed within the timeframe of the first five-year plan or in the next five-year plan will depend on the specific design and scale.

In the future, Law reveals there will be a marketplace near the tennis courts, in a bid to woo more tourists and citizens to the area.

On Hong Kong's visitor numbers which increased 11% year-on-year in the first eight months of this year, Law admits the government remains prudent in gauging the purchasing power of tourists as tourism spending did not surge significantly in tandem with the visitor tallies.