Jockey Club and China Travel Service join hands to promote horse racing tourism, cultural exchange and youth development

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (“the Club”) today (19 March) signed a memorandum of understanding with China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited (“CTS”) to strengthen its strategic partnership in support of tourism, sports, cultural exchange and youth development. The aim is to promote tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (“GBA”), help Hong Kong consolidate its position as an international tourism hub, and facilitate youth development and exchange between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

Witnessed by HKSAR Government Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law (back row, middle); Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR Guo Shaowei (back row, 1st left); Hong Kong Tourism Board Chairman Pang Yiu-kai (back row, 1st right); The Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (back row, 2nd right) and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited (“CTS”) Chairman Wang Haimin (back row, 2nd left), The Hong Kong Jockey Club Executive Director, Customer Strategy, Insights and Innovation, Dennis Hau (front row, right) and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited Deputy General Manager Jian Yi (front row, left) sign a memorandum of understanding strengthening the strategic partnership between the Club and CTS in support of tourism, sports, cultural exchange and youth development.

The signing ceremony was attended by Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the HKSAR Government Rosanna Law; Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Guo Shaowei; Hong Kong Tourism Board Chairman Pang Yiu-kai and guests. Also in attendance were the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and CTS Chairman Wang Haimin. They witnessed the Club’s Executive Director, Customer Strategy, Insights and Innovation Dennis Hau and CTS Deputy General Manager Jian Yi sign the memorandum.

HKSAR Government Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law (middle); Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Guo Shaowei (2nd left); Hong Kong Tourism Board Chairman Pang Yiu-kai (2nd right); The Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (3rd right); China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited Chairman Wang Haimin (3rd left); The Hong Kong Jockey Club Executive Director, Customer Strategy, Insights and Innovation, Dennis Hau (1st right); and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited Deputy General Manager Jian Yi (1st left) pose for a photo at the signing ceremony.

This collaboration comes at a moment when horse racing tourism has been included in the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry, as proposed by the HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee. By integrating resources and leveraging strengths, the Club and CTS will promote horse racing tourism, cultural exchange and youth development and work to promote the GBA as a world-class tourist destination.

With thrilling races, top-class racing entertainment and delicious cuisine, the 88 racedays each season at Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses provide visitors with an unforgettable racing experience.

Under the memorandum, the Club and CTS will:

1. Jointly promote horse racing tourism by including the Club’s Happy Valley, Sha Tin and Conghua racecourses into CTS’s travel itineraries (Conghua will host regular race meetings from 2026). To further enhance the popularity of horse racing tourism, they will also develop unique travel packages that integrate horse racing and related entertainment activities.

2. Strengthen exchange and cooperation in tourism, sports and culture and enhance exchange between Hong Kong and Mainland provinces and cities. By leveraging Hong Kong’s advantage of “having direct access to the huge Mainland market and strong international connectivity at the same time”, they will promote Hong Kong as the “Events Capital of Asia” and consolidate the GBA’s position as a demonstration zone of world-class equine sport and industry development.

3. Cooperate to launch study tours to promote exchange between Hong Kong and the Mainland. These will encourage Hong Kong’s young people to actively integrate into the overall development of the country, while also helping young people from the Mainland understand the development opportunities in Hong Kong.

4. Explore opportunities to enrich outer island tourism.

With thrilling races, top-class racing entertainment and delicious cuisine, the 88 racedays each season at Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses provide visitors with an unforgettable racing experience.

The Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the Club has a leading position in international racing, as well as world-class event-organising experience and racecourse resources in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, while CTS has an extensive tourism network and wide industry knowledge. Leveraging these joint strengths can further promote exchange and cooperation in tourism, especially equine tourism, sports and culture between Hong Kong and the Mainland. It will also enable Hong Kong to strengthen its international connectivity, as well as inject new vitality into the development of world-class tourist destinations in the GBA. He especially looked forward to welcoming more Mainland visitors to the Club's Conghua Racecourse starting from next year, where they will be able to appreciate the uniqueness of racing, via collaboration with CTS.

The Club has contributed to cultural tourism in many ways, including conserving and revitalising Tai Kwun as a popular heritage attraction, and supporting the construction of the Hong Kong Palace Museum .

CTS Chairman Wang Hai-min said the Club acts continuously for the betterment of society, while CTS is committed to creating joyful experiences and better lives – two ideals which perfectly complement one another. The New Quality Productive Forces Summer Tour promoted by both parties is a particularly successful example of a youth exchange tour and has been widely praised. Looking to the future, as Hong Kong enters a new stage – from stability to prosperity – and upholds the idea of “tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong”, the prospects for this cooperation will be even greater.

The Club has contributed to cultural tourism in many ways, including conserving and revitalising Tai Kwun as a popular heritage attraction, and supporting the construction of the Hong Kong Palace Museum .

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law said, “We are delighted to see the co-operation between The Hong Kong Jockey Club and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited in promoting tourism offerings with Hong Kong’s uniqueness, including horse racing tourism and island tourism, and enhancing collaboration across tourism, sports and culture, which would further showcase the appeal of Hong Kong as a world class tourist destination and attract visitors to return repeatedly.”

Last year, the Club and CTS partnered to launch the New Quality Productive Forces Summer Tour, enabling Hong Kong’s young people to learn more about national development in Mainland cities.

Since 2023, the Club and CTS have discussed cooperation in the areas of tourism, the promotion of horse culture and racecourse entertainment, and youth development in support of the national development strategy. In 2024, they partnered to launch the New Quality Productive Forces Summer Tour (“NQPF Summer Tour”), enabling Hong Kong’s young people to learn more about national development in Mainland cities. This gained much public recognition and laid a strong foundation for future collaboration between the Club and CTS. This year, they will once again organise the NQPF Summer Tour for Hong Kong’s young people, encouraging them to actively integrate into the overall development of the country.

As one of the world's leading charity donors, the Club’s Charities Trust has contributed to cultural tourism in many ways. For example, conserving and revitalising Tai Kwun as a cultural landmark and funding the construction of the Hong Kong Palace Museum to showcase Chinese culture to the world.

The grand final of the ninth CoolThink@JC Competition, which encourages primary school students to leverage digital creativity to solve everyday problems, was held today (5 July) at City University of Hong Kong. The team from King’s College Old Boys’ Association Primary School No.2 emerged as the champion in the “App Inventor” category, while the winner of the “Scratch” category was the team from St Mary’s Canossian School.

Tony Wong, Commissioner for Digital Policy at the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau of the HKSAR Government (front row, centre), Winnie Ying, Head of Charities (Youth Development & Poverty Alleviation; and Talent & Sector Development) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club (front row, 3rd left) and other guests at the CoolThink@JC Competition grand final.

Organised by CoolThink@JC, a project initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, this year’s competition attracted more than 120 team entries, with 40 teams advancing to the finals. Among them, eight outstanding teams progressed to the grand final to compete for top honours. Today, the shortlisted teams set up booths to present their app designs and ideas to the public and a judging panel comprising professionals from the education, information technology and business sectors.

Winnie Ying, Head of Charities (Youth Development & Poverty Alleviation; and Talent & Sector Development) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club (1st right) presents the award for the “Scratch” category to the winning team from St Mary’s Canossian School.

Presenting awards at the grand final were Tony Wong, Commissioner for Digital Policy of the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau of the HKSAR Government; and Winnie Ying, Head of Charities (Youth Development & Poverty Alleviation; and Talent & Sector Development) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Tony Wong, Commissioner for Digital Policy at the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau of the HKSAR Government (1st right) presents the award for the “App Inventor” category to the winning team from King’s College Old Boys’ Association Primary School No.2.

Speaking at the grand final, Winnie Ying said it was a great honour to witness the innovative ideas presented at the ninth edition of the CoolThink@JC Competition. The event stands as a testament to the Club’s collective efforts in fostering computational thinking and creativity among Hong Kong’s upper primary school students, she added. Since its launch in 2016, CoolThink@JC has reached over 100,000 students and trained more than 2,000 teachers.

Group photo.

Together with other Trust-funded STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education projects, the Club aims to equip students with essential skills required for a 21st-century workforce. It seeks to enhance digital competency among youngsters, aligning with the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Policy Address to promote digital education.

Beyond the competition, students will have the opportunity to participate in exchange activities with Mainland schools this summer through the project’s sister school partnerships. This is aimed at fostering collaboration in computational thinking and artificial intelligence education between the Mainland and Hong Kong, promoting cultural understanding and innovative ideas. Last month, a Memorandum of Understanding titled “CoolThink@JC × Cambodia Sharing and Exchange Programme” was signed with Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, which plans to adopt and adapt the CoolThink@JC curriculum in Cambodian primary schools. This partnership aims to ensure equitable access to quality computational thinking education, nurturing future-ready talent in both Hong Kong and Cambodia.

The shortlisted teams of the CoolThink@JC Competition at their booths, presenting their app designs and ideas to the public.

CoolThink@JC is created and funded by the Club’s Charities Trust, co-created by The Education University of Hong Kong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and City University of Hong Kong. Launched in 2016, the project aims to empower upper primary students with problem solving and creative skills for the digital age, enabling them to become creators of technology. It has garnered three prestigious international accolades, including the Silver Award in the Engineering & Technology category and the Bronze Award in the Teaching & Learning category at the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2021, as well as an international accreditation from the International Society for Technology in Education—attesting to its significant impact and excellence. It has also reached all publicly-funded primary schools in Hong Kong in 2024. The Education Bureau has adopted and adapted the project’s learning materials for its curriculum modules on innovation and technology education. For more details, please visit: http://www.coolthink.hk/.

The Club’s support for CoolThink@JC, like all its charity and community donations, is made possible by its unique integrated business model through which racing and responsible sports wagering generate substantial tax contributions, charity support and employment opportunities for Hong Kong.