Hong Kong goes for goal in World Cup
Neither China nor Hong Kong have made it to South Africa but the city is eagerly anticipating the biggest sporting show on earth, which kicks off tonight.
Pubs and restaurants are at the forefront, with many saying they have spent two to three months planning for the month-long World Cup, mobilising staff to work overtime.
The Dickens Bar in The Excelsior hotel in Causeway Bay, which will be showing most of the games except those kicking off at 2.30am, before the second round of the tournament, said advance reservations had been strong and the bar was fully booked for tomorrow.
Up to five extra staff would be on duty during the tournament, a hotel spokesman said. The bar has installed 13 TV sets and has been decorated with World Cup props.
In SoHo, Red Soho has installed five TV sets and two big screens. A kick-off party, serving customers free canapes, will be held tonight.
Samuel Yung, the bar and restaurant's floor manager, said it had taken two months to prepare for the tournament, and there would be a lucky draw for customers. He said the restaurant, which normally closed at 2am, would stay open for the 2.30am games. Two more part-time staff have been hired, and some full-time staff would be working from 8pm to 5am during the World Cup. Yung expected to see business increase by 30 to 40 per cent.
In Wan Chai, Gloria Au Po-yi, manager of the Trafalgar bar, said it had made a six-figure investment in decorations, upgrading audio and video devices, buying more beer towers and prizes for lucky draws, including an iPad for first prize. The pub also made another six-figure investment in buying different drinks, importing draught beer from Britain and whisky from Japan. A new menu for the World Cup has also been prepared.
Au said opening hours would be extended to 6am and was confident that business would increase by 60 to 70 per cent. The minimum charge is HK$150 to HK$200 a head during the group stages, with a 10 per cent service charge, and will be adjusted later.
Man Shun-ho, manager of the Giant Food Restaurant, a 24-hour tea cafe in Wan Chai, which has three TVs showing live matches, said the World Cup would attract more customers, but would not necessarily bring in more revenue. 'Hong Kong people are keener on gambling nowadays. They are not purely watching matches,' she said, adding that the restaurant would apply a HK$35 per head minimum charge.
Malls around town have been gearing up for the tournament, with kick-off events being held tonight at many of them, including Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui and apm in Kwun Tong.
Sales of World Cup package tours have been disappointing. Only 50 customers bought World Cup packages from Hong Thai Travel, compared to 1,500 for the 2002 World Cup staged in Japan and South Korea, deputy general manager Daniel Chan Kin-pang said.
Fans are also getting ready to party. James Hung from the Choi Chi Gift Shop in Mong Kok said national flags were nearly sold out. Several dozen local customers and westerners had visited his shop every day to buy soccer-related products for the past two weeks, he said.
Freelance stage manager William Wong Chi-wai, 26, jokingly said he would change his clock to South African time, and was prepared to go out to watch big games with friends if teams such as England, Brazil and Spain were playing.
