So James Thompson, chairman of AmCham, is now blaming local hotels and airlines for not sponsoring Harbour Fest. But why should they have?
At a time when hotels and airlines, the worst hit by the Sars crisis, are finally getting paid guests and passengers, is Mr Thompson suggesting that they should have provided free rooms and trips to all international performers - perhaps even overseas tourists? Oh, please, let's hope not. Desperation is starting to show.
The letters and columnists suddenly trumpeting the 'efforts' of Mr Thompson to stage Harbour Fest are both laughable and dubious.
No one is saying that Harbour Fest was a bad idea. Having an annual event like this is something the government should support and not start playing pass-the-buck and look-for-scapegoats. It is too late for all that. There was a good 'vibe' to most of the concerts, though they were probably a little skewed towards an expatriate audience. The Tamar site was great.
The decision to approve a tab of $100 million and give this event to AmCham came from right at the top. And the buck should stop there - with the person who approved the signing of any contracts and the cheques.
The reason that Harbour Fest was not embraced by many was due to all the initial hype, arrogance and ignorance displayed by the key players and the fact that one of those responsible for bringing the acts to Hong Kong had absolutely no experience in cutting deals with their management companies.
