The protests, which were sparked by a piece of legislation that would have breached the firewall between’s common law legal system and mainland China’s Communist Party-controlled judicial system, have now run for 22 weeks.
The darker turn of events has shown up directly in the direction of the territory’s box office. While June and July actually saw year-on-year increases of 23% and 14%, respectively, the subsequent trend has turned sharply negative. Despite that gloom, the message being promoted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council at the recent Busan and Tokyo film festivals, and again at this week’s AFM, is that“We will put in place contingency measures such as shuttles from the airport for visitors concerned by protests or disruption to public transport,” sources close to the TDC have told. “Similarly, we may expand incentives such as hotel room discounts for registered buyers.
Some conferences and events have abandoned Hong Kong in favor of other destinations. The TV industry’s ongoing Asia Video Summit decamped to Singapore.Theatrical exhibition and distribution convention CineAsia, set for early December, argues that despite the headlines, business activities are largely operating as normal.