The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is set to retire its iconic nightly harbour light show after more than two decades, replacing it with a new, festival-style lighting programme as part of a broader strategy to draw higher-spending tourists, the SAR’s public broadcaster RTHK reports.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan has confirmed that the replacement for A Symphony of Lights would feature light installations staged at different locations and times of the year, rather than a single fixed nightly performance. He cited Hong Kong WinterFest’s Immersive Light Show in Central – which involved holographic projections – as a successful model that could be replicated.
A Symphony of Lights has been staged at Victoria Harbour every night since its 2004 inauguration, and the free 10-minute display was awarded the “Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show” title by the Guinness Book of Records in 2005. Its shutdown date has not yet been finalised.
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The show’s retirement was announced as part of Hong Kong’s latest budget, which allocates HK$1.66 billion in funding to the HKTB for the coming year to expand flagship events, lengthen their duration and introduce new elements aimed at refreshing the city’s tourism offering. Highlighting Hong Kong’s “East-meets-West uniqueness” would be part of that, Chan noted.
The government will earmark HK$1 billion in additional funding for the Built Heritage Conservation Fund’s work with Hong Kong’s historic buildings, he said, and carry out several major developments – including a 15 kilometre extension to Kowloon’s harbour-front promenade.
In addition, Chan announced a HK$200 million pilot fund under the Northern Metropolis plan to support rural tourism projects, and said authorities hoped to attract more MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events to the city.
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Efforts to boost the city’s cruise tourism, which saw ship numbers increase by 26 percent in 2025, and strengthen multi-destination travel links with the Greater Bay Area and other mainland cities will also be prioritised.
Chan said the focus would be on attracting overnight and higher-value visitors, with promotional efforts stepped up in mainland cities beyond Guangdong, as well as in emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
