Hong Kong Jockey Club hosts inaugural Tourism Cup as part of development forum

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) held a closing banquet for the 2026 Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum, as well as an inaugural Tourism Cup to support relations with the China Tourism Group (CTG). 

This year’s Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum was operated under the theme of “Win-win Collaboration · Tech-Empowerment — Supporting Hong Kong in Consolidating its Position as a World-Class Premier Tourism Destination.”

As part of the closing ceremony, Martin Liao, Chairman of HKJC, welcomed the guests and executives to the Happy Valley Racecourse, one of the key tourism spots in the area. 

Liao noted that it has “become one of Hong Kong’s most compelling tourism attractions for visitors from around the world”, which demonstrates “the growing appeal of horse racing tourism.”

The HKJC regularly hosts large events that encourage fans from a wide range of sports to converge at the Racecourse, such as the Racing with Football event that was recently launched alongside Lenovo for the 2026 World Cup. 

As for wider tourism, the CTG alone brought almost 11,000 high-end visitors to the racecourse within the last 12 months. 

This has supported the HKJC’s record number of tourists, with 350,000 so far this season translating to a 94% increase year-on-year. 

To celebrate this working relationship between the two groups, Jian Yi, Vice General Manager of CTG, presented the HKJC with a model of the Adora Magic City cruise ship.

In return, Casper Stylsvig, Executive Director, Sports Business of the Club, presented CTG with a sculpture of two horses racing. 

This builds upon the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between the HKJC and the CTG last year.

The partnership is built to support tourism, sports, cultural exchange and youth development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.