National Games ticket sales open in Hong Kong, but online portal lacks English option
Expats in city tell the Post that large-scale events such as National Games fail to consider English-speaking community
Tickets for National Games events, including those held in Hong Kong, went on sale on Thursday morning, but the Post found that the online purchasing system did not provide an English-language version.
Some expats in the city also complained to the Post that they were unable to secure tickets for the National Games’ rugby sevens event because the sales channel interface was only in Chinese.
They highlighted that while the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens attracted tens of thousands of fans from around the world, a large-scale event such as the National Games failed to consider the city’s English-speaking community.
Yeung Tak-keung, head of the National Games Coordination Office, told the Post after inspecting a designated outlet that the lack of an English interface was standard practice for the games, as it followed the system used in Guangdong.
“Overseas travellers who only speak English can buy tickets through travel agencies,” Yeung said at the Causeway Bay branch of China Travel Service (Hong Kong).
He said a hotline was also available on the website, enabling tourists to buy tickets if they were outside Hong Kong.