New report recommends ticketing & venue booking reforms for Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Future Economy Institute (HKFEI) recently published a report titled Events Capital in Waiting, which looks at how often international concert tours include Hong Kong.

The study covers 174 multi-market tours that played Asia between January 2023 and September 2026, totalling about 2,900 performances.

Of 95 Western tours, 21.1% included Hong Kong, compared with 49.5% for Singapore and 74.7% for Tokyo. Korean tours came out closer: out of 57, 56.1% played Hong Kong and 61.4% played Singapore.

Among Western tours visiting fewer than six Asian cities, only one of sixty included Hong Kong. Coldplay, in April 2025, is the only Western act in the data to have played Kai Tak Sports Park.

The report points to two areas, starting with ticketing.

Police recorded 2,805 concert-ticket fraud cases in 2025, up 61.8% from the year before. Reselling a ticket above face value carries a maximum fine of HK$2,000, a figure unchanged since 1950, and the offence doesn’t cover venues run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).

The report also states it found no rule requiring major venues to publish how tickets are split between public sale and other channels, which it states “can damage confidence in both the event and Hong Kong as a destination”.

The second area is venue booking. The Hong Kong Coliseum and Queen Elizabeth Stadium open bookings twelve months ahead, require applicants to be registered in Hong Kong, and publish no provisional-hold system. Earlier requests go through a Special Booking route, which is considered case by case with no published advance window.

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Demand is not the issue; The Coliseum recorded 100% utilisation in 2022, 2023 and the first eleven months of 2024, and granted 114 of 575 applications in that last period.

Even so, none of the 20 Western or 32 Korean tours that reached Hong Kong played an LCSD venue. They played Kai Tak Stadium, AsiaWorld-Arena, other AsiaWorld-Expo halls and similar venues, all booked directly with operators. The report says the data do not show why, and frames the pattern as a question about whether the booking rules suit international touring.

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HKFEI’s recommendations follow from these findings. On ticketing, it wants organisers to publish how tickets are split between public sale, presales and other channels at every major venue.

It also calls for the resale offence to cover LCSD venues, a penalty above the 1950 cap, and a ban on software that defeats purchase limits, as under the US BOTS Act. Ticketing providers would meet set standards for bot protection and queue management.

On venues, the report proposes a booking window of up to 24 months at the Coliseum, Queen Elizabeth Stadium and Ko Shan Theatre, with free provisional holds and access for international promoters. Approvals would carry binding deadlines, and one government body would be accountable for results.

Read the entire ‘Events Capital in Waiting’ report by HKFEI here.

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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