HKJC and CTS ink deal to promote horse racing tourism in HK

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has inked deal with China Travel Service Hong Kong Limited (CTS) to support the city’s tourism, sports, cultural exchange and youth development.

The partnership aims to promote tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, help Hong Kong consolidate its position as an international tourism hub, and facilitate youth development and exchange between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

This collaboration comes at a moment when horse racing tourism has been included in the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s tourism industry, as proposed by Hong Kong’s leader John Lee. By integrating resources and leveraging strengths, the club and CTS will promote horse racing tourism, cultural exchange and youth development and work to promote the GBA as a world-class tourist destination.

Under the memorandum, the club and CTS will jointly promote horse racing tourism by including the club’s Happy Valley, Sha Tin and Conghua racecourses into CTS’s travel itineraries. To further enhance the popularity of horse racing tourism, they will also develop unique travel packages that integrate horse racing and related entertainment activities.

Furthermore, both parties will strengthen exchange and cooperation in tourism, sports and culture and enhance exchange between Hong Kong and Mainland provinces and cities. By leveraging Hong Kong’s advantage of “having direct access to the huge Mainland market and strong international connectivity at the same time”, they will promote Hong Kong as the “Events Capital of Asia” and consolidate the GBA’s position as a demonstration zone of world-class equine sport and industry development.

They will also cooperate to launch study tours to promote exchange between Hong Kong and the Mainland. These will encourage Hong Kong’s young people to integrate actively into the overall development of the country while also helping young people from the mainland understand the development opportunities in Hong Kong.

The club’s CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the club has a leading position in international racing, as well as world-class event-organising experience and racecourse resources in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, while CTS has an extensive tourism network and wide industry knowledge.

“Leveraging these joint strengths can further promote exchange and cooperation in tourism, especially equine tourism, sports and culture between Hong Kong and the Mainland. It will also enable Hong Kong to strengthen its international connectivity, as well as inject new vitality into the development of world-class tourist destinations in the GBA.”

He especially looked forward to welcoming more Mainland visitors to the Club's Conghua Racecourse starting from next year, where they will be able to appreciate the uniqueness of racing, via collaboration with CTS.

CTS chairman Wang Hai-min said the Club acts continuously for the betterment of society, while CTS is committed to creating joyful experiences and better lives – two ideals which perfectly complement one another. The New Quality Productive Forces Summer Tour promoted by both parties is a particularly successful example of a youth exchange tour and has been widely praised. Looking to the future, as Hong Kong enters a new stage – from stability to prosperity – and upholds the idea that “tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong”, the prospects for this cooperation will be even greater.

Hong Kong’s tourism chief Rosanna Law said, “We are delighted to see the cooperation between The Hong Kong Jockey Club and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited in promoting tourism offerings with Hong Kong’s uniqueness, including horse racing tourism and island tourism, and enhancing collaboration across tourism, sports and culture, which would further showcase the appeal of Hong Kong as a world class tourist destination and attract visitors to return repeatedly.”

Since 2023, the club and CTS have discussed cooperation in the areas of tourism, the promotion of horse culture and racecourse entertainment, and youth development in support of the national development strategy. In 2024, they partnered to launch the New Quality Productive Forces Summer Tour (NQPF Summer Tour), enabling Hong Kong’s young people to learn more about national development in Mainland cities.

This gained much public recognition and laid a strong foundation for future collaboration between the Club and CTS. This year, they will once again organise the NQPF Summer Tour for Hong Kong’s young people, encouraging them to actively integrate into the overall development of the country.

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