Hong Kong is considering relaxing the age limit for attending horse races following calls from the city’s leader to develop “horse racing tourism,” the culture chief has said.

Secretary for Culture, Sports, and Tourism Kevin Yeung on Monday told an RTHK programme that the government was in talks with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the body behind the city’s horse racing sports and betting, about promoting the sport as a unique characteristic of the city to tourists.

Local media reports on Monday suggested that authorities were considering lowering age restrictions for attending horse races, which currently bars those aged 18 or below from entering racecourses. When asked about the proposal, Yeung said it had to be “carefully considered.”

“I think we have to see things holistically, it can’t be that everything is not restricted. Sometimes we need to be practical and realistic, and we may need to lift restrictions when it is needed. But we will discuss this [with the Jockey Club],” Yeung said in Cantonese.

He said the “common goal” was to promote the sport internationally, adding that the scale of horse racing in Hong Kong was above average compared with other places in Asia.

Under existing regulations, no person under 18 is allowed to bet or enter premises where bets are accepted. Tourists aged 18 or above can enter the public area of Jockey Club’s racecourses for free with a foreign passport.

Residents have to pay an admission fee of HK$10 to enter.

Chief Executive John Lee in his third Policy Address delivered last Wednesday said Hong Kong will develop “tourism products with characteristics,” including yacht tourism, panda tourism, horse racing tourism, as well as cultural and eco-tourism.

‘Cruise tourism’

Separately, Yeung said Hong Kong should not be compared directly with Singapore regarding summer cruise arrival figures because of typhoons.

“I think we cannot directly compare [the two places]. The reason why we say September is peak season [for cruise arrival in Hong Kong], is because traditionally we begin our typhoon season from May, and it is not the same in other places, such as Singapore,” he said.

Yeung made the remark after the host asked him to comment on the total of 40-odd cruise arrivals and departures in Singapore between July and October, which was about 70 per cent higher compared with the same period in Hong Kong.

Yeung said Hong Kong should instead focus on leveraging its own strength as a regional transport hub connecting mainland China through high-speed rail links and the world through the city’s international airport.

He added that Hong Kong should further develop its tourism attractions to bring more cruises to the city as their homeport.

An action plan on the development of cruise tourism would be unveiled along with a development blueprint for the whole tourism industry later this year, Yeung said.

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