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Millions of dollars of sponsorship go up in smoke as Canto-pop concerts, art fairs and sports events are scrapped during coronavirus outbreak
- The Hong Kong Arts Festival had up to 20 sponsors paying HK$55 million collectively to get their names and logos on to the 120 shows, which are now all cancelled
- Canto-pop stars Andy Lau and Eason Chan scrapped their concerts in Hong Kong, featuring sponsorships by the insurers YF Life and FWD
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Hong Kong’s public events and shows have taken a beating in the past nine months, as the coronavirus outbreak and last year’s anti-government protests forced hundreds of pop concerts, art shows and sports tournaments to be cancelled in the city.
While the cancellations have driven hotel occupancy to record lows and sent the exhibitions industry into an unprecedented slump, they have also left thousands of corporate sponsors bleeding, with multimillion-dollar sponsorships going up in smoke.
Art Basel cancelled its contemporary art fair in mid-March, while the Hong Kong Arts Festival called off 120 performances in February and March. Canto-pop star Andy Lau Tak-wah scrapped a dozen concerts scheduled for mid-February, after Eason Chan cancelled a 25-show run in December. All these cancellations add up to millions of dollars in sponsorships.
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“Companies pay a lot of money [in sponsorships] to promote their brands during popular concerts and shows,” said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, securities strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “Their promotional goals would not be achieved when these events are cancelled.”
Hong Kong’s economy is in its first technical recession in a decade, after many months of anti-government protests drove away visitors, especially the deep-pocketed tourists and shoppers from mainland China, leaving the city’s luxury retail industry in the doldrums.
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