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Fifa effect: Hong Kong developers bet on sport fever to keep shoppers spending

Neighbourhood malls to host year-round events encouraging consumers to open their wallets after World Cup mania delivers double-digit gains

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More than 1,000 soccer fans packed the Olympian City shopping mall in Tai Kok Tsui as they cheered for their teams during the World Cup final match live broadcast between Spain and Argentina. Photo: Sun Yeung
Peggy Ye
From attracting tourist spending to live streaming world sports events like the Fifa World Cup, Hong Kong developers have tried to claw their way through a challenging retail market and found a rare boost to shopping malls.
As crowds converged on neighbourhood malls to watch live broadcasts of World Cup matches, restaurants, sportswear retailers and consumer electronics stores were among the biggest beneficiaries.

Sino Group, which spent more than HK$8 million (US$1 million) broadcasting all 104 matches across its three flagship malls, said foot traffic and sales for the period rose 10 to 15 per cent from a year earlier.

Kai Tak Mall reported a 15 per cent increase in foot traffic over the previous month, while Sun Hung Kai Properties’ flagship APM mall recorded a more than 10 per cent lift in both visitors and sales.

However, rather than treating the World Cup as a stand-alone campaign, developers are extending the approach with permanent programming and infrastructure upgrades, according to analysts, who said the strategy reflected a broader shift in Hong Kong’s retail market.

“Before Covid, developers were more focused on tourist spending because mainland visitors [spent] more,” said property analyst Will Chu, investment director at Nexara Capital.

He noted that mall operators had to work much harder to help their tenants attract local customers, as many Hong Kong residents travelled overseas for holidays or spent their weekends in Shenzhen.
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