Gay Games organisers confident more people will sign up for event in Hong Kong amid lifting of Covid curbs, confirm most venues
- Lisa Lam, co-chair of event, says registration was low when it opened last October amid quarantine rules for travellers
- Queen Elizabeth Stadium, which will host martial arts event, is the only confirmed government venue
Organisers of the Gay Games have expressed confidence that more people will sign up for the event now Hong Kong has lifted its Covid-related travel restrictions, and revealed they have secured 90 per cent of the venues ahead of the sports competitions in November.
Speaking to the Post on Saturday from Sydney where the WorldPride fair is being held, Lisa Lam Mun-wai, co-chair of the 2023 Games to be co-hosted by Hong Kong and the Mexican city of Guadalajara, said she was there to drum up interest in the event with other organisers taking part in the Mardi Gras parade.
“With Hong Kong opening up, with the free tickets, it’s a better time to start pushing it,” said Lam, referring to the 500,000 airline tickets being offered by the government as part of a campaign to reboot tourism.
Registration for the Games opened last October, when the city still had quarantine requirements for arrivals, and Lam acknowledged that the numbers were lower than for previous competitions.
But with the city dropping almost all of its Covid-19 travel restrictions in December last year, she was confident more people would sign up in the coming months.
A WorldPride event was held in Hong Kong at the Petticoat Lane club on Saturday and organised by the Gay Games in partnership with the Australian consulate. Australian Consul-General Elizabeth Ward told the Post that the city hosting the Games was “a major achievement”.
She added: “The event will provide further opportunities to celebrate the values of inclusivity and diversity that both Australians and Hongkongers embrace.”
