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Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong Man-wai, who is vying for the Legislative Council seat representing the travel industry, has highlighted her past efforts in promoting “racing tourism” when questioned by election authorities about her ties to the sector. According to documents scrutinised by the Post on Thursday, the 31-year-old fencing star has received backing from some of the city’s heavyweights, including Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, chairman and managing director of Wharf Holdings, and veteran HSBC banker Peter Wong Tung-shun. Sino Group chairman Daryl Ng Win-kong and Kerry Properties chairman Kuok Khoon-hua also showed up earlier to support her election bid. In a letter marked “urgent” and dated Monday evening, just hours after the former athlete submitted her application, the returning officer for the tourism functional constituency requested supplementary information from her before validating her nominations. That included a request for Kong to elaborate on her personal experience and professional or occupational qualifications within the sector, which would demonstrate her ability to represent and contribute to the interests of the tourism industry. Kong was also asked whether she was a “member, partner, officer or employee” of a corporate elector in the sector. In her four-page response, Kong stressed her past efforts to advance racing tourism, a strategy unveiled in the government’s travel industry blueprint last year, during her tenure at the Jockey Club. “As external affairs manager at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, I joined the ‘Racing Tourism Ecosystem’ project. We turned Sha Tin Racecourse into a premier Asian sports tourism complex, enriching tourists’ experiences and opening new directions for city tourism,” she said. “I starred in the promotional video of Hong Kong Jockey Club’s recruitment and ‘2024 Paris Olympics Hong Kong Equestrian Day’, showcasing Hong Kong’s opportunities from an athlete’s perspective and promoting racing tourism.” Kong also stated her efforts in pushing sports tourism, including her participation in the Jockey Club’s initiative to collaborate with mainland China to attract visitors to the Greater Bay Area. “As an elite gold medallist and the external affairs manager of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, I represented Hong Kong at high-level forums, including United Nations conferences, to promote Hong Kong’s image and highlight the city’s international tourism appeal,” Kong said. She will run against district councillor Ma Yat-chiu, who runs a travel agency. Kong, who won gold in the women’s individual epee at the Paris Olympic Games last year and retired from her sports career right after, soon joined the Hong Kong Jockey Club as assistant external affairs manager – a role suspended recently in the run-up to the election.
