Making the Most of Hong Kong’s Coastline: Developing Maritime Tourism and the Yacht Economy

Hong Kong’s harbors are world-famous, yet we have not fully utilized our maritime advantages to drive economic development. As Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, has instructed, Hong Kong needs new thinking, new methods, and must recognize, adapt to, and seek change while making good use of its 1,180 kilometers of coastline and 263 islands. On Thursday (20th), Legislator Kenneth Lau’s motion on “Utilizing Hong Kong’s island and coastline resources to promote maritime tourism development” was passed, suggesting that Hong Kong’s overall marine resources should be utilized according to local conditions, with distinctive industry layouts in different spaces.

Activating Victoria Harbour for World-Class Events

Few Hong Kong people realize that the America’s Cup sailing race ranks alongside the Olympic Games, World Cup, and Formula 1 racing as one of the four most influential traditional sporting events globally. These premier sporting events have significant commercial scale, can become international calling cards for host cities, and bring enormous economic value.

In 2024, the Barcelona America’s Cup brought over 1 billion euros in economic contributions to the Catalonia region. The two-month event attracted approximately 1.8 million visitors; 244 superyachts docked during this period, generating about 35 million euros in spending. Clearly, event economics can serve as a breakthrough point for Hong Kong’s marine economy.

Victoria Harbour is an excellent venue for hosting major events, being not only an important ecological resource but also a cultural symbol that has hosted many exciting competitions. For example, the Cross-Harbour Swim held over many years and the annual Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Invitational Race after the Dragon Boat Festival both attract many citizens and tourists to participate or watch. Hosting world-class maritime events in Victoria Harbour would attract more high-end travelers and stimulate the tourism market’s potential.

Victoria Harbour’s calm waters, depth, openness, and year-round warmth provide not only a showcase platform for superyachts but also suitable venues for high-speed events such as F1 Powerboat Racing and sailing competitions. Beyond Victoria Harbour, the open waters off Lamma Island could also serve as starting points for Offshore Sailing Races, creating event synergies.

Currently, the government is actively promoting the development of the low-altitude economy. We might as well take a longer view and use the airspace above Victoria Harbour as a low-altitude race track to host the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, allowing the building clusters on both shores and the open waters to form a natural “urban aerial theater” to develop Hong Kong’s low-altitude cultural tourism economy.

Some may worry that hosting such competitive events in Victoria Harbour would bring noise, environmental pollution, and safety concerns, disrupting the harbor’s daily operations. However, many developed cities worldwide have successful precedents. For example, Singapore has hosted the F1 night race at Marina Bay, balancing events and city operations through temporary facilities and traffic control with time and frequency limitations. Additionally, boat races could consider using environmentally friendly synthetic fuels and deploying oil pollution barriers to minimize environmental impact. Hong Kong has long been known as the “City of International Events,” and authorities should draw on successful experiences from elsewhere, conduct feasibility studies, take the initiative to pilot programs, and fully activate the potential of maritime event economics while ensuring navigational safety.

Kai Tak Synergy: Increasing Berths

To develop Victoria Harbour as a world-class event economy carrier, Hong Kong needs sufficient berths and supporting facilities to accommodate local and visiting yachts, but currently, Hong Kong severely lacks yacht berths. In the long term, we propose developing Lamma Island as a yacht industry base, including building seawalls and yacht berths in four bays: Sok Kwu Wan, Luk Chau Wan, Tung O Wan, and Ha Mei Wan, as well as establishing yacht clubs and vessel repair yards at the old quarry site.

While we have long-term goals, we also need short-term strategies. The Kai Tak Sports Park grandly opened earlier this month. The To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter opposite the sports park covers about 14.8 hectares of sea area, with good depth and beautiful scenery. Mr. Ricky Wan, Director of Sales & Marketing at K. Wah International, has suggested in reports that the To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter could be transformed into a yacht mooring area, strengthening Kai Tak’s coastal advantages and creating synergies with the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and Kai Tak Sports Park to create new economic opportunities for the Kai Tak Development Area. Therefore, the To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter could serve as a transitional location before the completion of the Lamma Island yacht base; the sea area off the Lamma Power Station has existing seawalls that can accommodate fishing boats or work vessels seeking shelter.

To turn Kai Tak into an urban yacht mooring center, shore leisure activity spaces need to be expanded and more convenient transportation connections provided to attract high-end yacht visitors. With the gradual development of “Energizing Kowloon East,” Kai Tak should be able to provide sufficient office facilities and commercial space for the international yacht industry in the future; nearby large shopping mall Airside features facilities such as an indoor surfing venue, and various sports centers are successively moving in, which should create synergies between sea and land leisure sports.

Bay Area Connectivity: Simplifying Procedures

For Hong Kong to develop as a regional yacht center, beyond its own advantageous harbor resources, it can also connect with the Greater Bay Area to promote the yacht industry. At the end of 2024, the Guangdong Provincial Government issued the “Guangdong Province Action Plan for High-Quality Development of the Yacht Industry (2024-2027),” which mentioned seeking to launch a “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Yacht Free Travel” pilot program and promoting mutual recognition and connectivity of yachts among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to drive regional development of the yacht industry. Currently, ports such as Zhuhai Hengqin and Shenzhen Bay are implementing a “designated berthing, nearby joint inspection” customs clearance policy for Hong Kong and Macao yachts, aiming to simplify border crossing procedures.

Six years ago, Singapore had already laid out a “designated berthing, nearby joint inspection” yacht customs clearance model, and in 2022 established one-stop maritime, immigration, and customs facilities. Travelers only need to apply online and can directly sail their yachts into one of the designated docks to quickly complete all entry and exit procedures.

Hainan Island has also implemented “free travel” entry measures for Hong Kong, Macao, and foreign yachts, canceling the requirement to report to maritime management agencies before departure, establishing a cross-departmental one-time joint inspection mechanism, with yachts entering and exiting Hainan waters only needing to complete entry and exit procedures once, sharing navigation plan routes and declaration data among port management departments.

In contrast, Hong Kong has complicated procedures for foreign yachts entering the port. All visiting vessels must notify the Marine Department within 24 hours before arrival, then separately handle customs procedures for the vessel and crew with different departments; within 24 hours of entering Hong Kong waters, the captain must go ashore to the Marine Department to report the vessel’s arrival; before departure, all procedures must be repeated in reverse. Such time-consuming arrangements are likely to “scare away” many foreign yacht visitors, let alone attract participants to come to Hong Kong for major events.

To change this situation, Hong Kong needs to keep pace with the Greater Bay Area yacht free travel initiative and simplify customs clearance procedures. Legislator Kenneth Lau suggested that Hong Kong should develop comprehensive tourism in coordination with the Greater Bay Area to create a world-class maritime tourism destination. For example, introducing “designated berthing, nearby joint inspection” at specific docks where vessels and personnel can undergo “co-location of checkpoints.” As mentioned in our previous article, turning Lamma Island into an international yacht base could make it the first stop for overseas yachts entering China or East Asia for cross-border joint tours, providing mooring and supplies, encouraging travelers to tour, stay, and spend.

Therefore, we must seize the opportunity to transform Hong Kong into an international yacht center. Authorities should work with the industry and actively communicate with Greater Bay Area governments, changing from “planners” to “facilitators” to fully mobilize the advantages of marine resources.

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