When Coldplay returned after 15 years to perform in Hong Kong’s newly-opened Kai Tak Sports Park this month, it wasn’t just a concert for the city, it was also a curtain-raiser on its ambitions to become Asia’s next entertainment powerhouse.
The concerts, part of the band’s Music of the Spheres world tour, marked the first major international act to perform at the 50,000-seat venue, which officially opened in March after years of anticipation. Over four nights from 8 to 12 April, Kai Tak welcomed some 200,000 fans – not just locals, but visitors from across the world who turned the gigs into mini holidays, complete with sightseeing, food crawls, and even charity work.
For American traveller Shawn Perrin, who flew in for three days just to catch his fourth Coldplay concert after shows in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Helsinki, the experience was seamless.
“The concert was great, as good as the ones I’ve caught elsewhere,” he told The Straits Times, praising the crowd management, accessibility, and overall vibe of the evening.
Another visitor, 27-year-old Jay Dela Cruz Ingles Jnr from the Philippines, made the Coldplay trip a family affair.
“It was just jaw-dropping as we were walking towards the stadium, the architecture alone is magnificent,” he told The South China Morning Post.
Ingles and his five family members stayed for four nights, spending HK$4,000 (£388) on hostel rooms, exploring Disneyland, Tai Kwun, the Chi Lin Nunnery, and even hiking Braemar Hill. They also took part in volunteer work with local charities.
“Food was also one of the most notable expenses here. Luckily, we discovered ‘two-dish rice’,” Ingles said, referring to Hong Kong’s beloved budget takeaway meals.
Visitors like Ingles were part of a larger tourism windfall: Coldplay’s four-night run is estimated to have generated HK$1.2bn (£116.5m) in economic value, according to a methodology developed by Professor Haiyan Song of Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management, reported the SCMP.
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The calculation took into account tourist spending, ticket prices, and audience size, with Tourism Board data showing overnight visitors spend an average of HK$5,490 (£533) per trip and stay for about 3.2 nights.
“The tourist income every year in Hong Kong is about HK$260bn (£25bn), so HK$1.2bn from only four nights is a big number already,” said Professor Song.
Restaurants and bars around the venue too reported a 5 to 10 per cent uptick in traffic, according to Kowloon City district councillor Razwin Ullah. “I saw many foreign tourists inside these establishments,” he said. “I can easily tell who’s local and who’s not.”
Several bar owners, he added, told him the weekend crowd felt more like a festival than a regular night out. Even with all the anticipation, Kai Tak’s debut wasn’t without its flaws. In the run-up to the shows, some concertgoers reported receiving misprinted physical tickets, which were still required for entry. Cityline, the ticketing platform, later apologised after the tourism chief publicly voiced concern.
Some fans also felt the energy outside the venue was lacking. Unlike other major stops on the band’s tour, like Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, Hong Kong did not offer fan zones, pre-concert singalongs, or photo booths, and the stadium’s closed roof meant no fireworks.
Despite the teething troubles, the overall sentiment has been largely positive, with many hoping the success of Coldplay’s shows will mark the beginning of more large-scale performances in the city.
“There has been a lack of high-quality international bands coming to Hong Kong in recent years,” a fan identified only as David, who has also seen the band live in Singapore, told The Straits Times.
“Hopefully this is the start of more international acts and events coming to the city.”
To bolster Hong Kong’s appeal, the concerts came just before a month full of headline events the city was scheduled to hold. The Hong Kong Sevens, Art Basel, Art Central, and LIV Golf all contributed towards the city’s efforts to string together mega-events and keep visitors engaged for longer.
Lawmaker Vincent Cheng noted a visible rise in tourist numbers around east Tsim Sha Tsui during the period, especially among Asian and mainland Chinese travellers.
“We do hope that authorities’ strategy of stringing a number of events together can help visitors stay longer … but we also acknowledge there is competition,” he said.
True to Cheng’s words, there is indeed stiff competition. Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney have already set the bar with their slick venues and steady stream of global acts. But with Kai Tak Sports Park now in play, Hong Kong has a renewed chance to stake its claim, as long as it can match not just the logistics, but also deliver the kind of electric atmosphere fans expect from a world-stage performance.
