ABSTRACT
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), together with major auction houses in Hong Kong, is promoting the city as the central art hub for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The rationale behind this strategy is that Hong Kong is already an efficient and popular logistics hub, has developed complex international trade connections and has recently seen a proliferation of arts venues and international contemporary art fairs (ICAF). This chapter uses a case study approach to look at the implications this strategy and its outcomes have for place event marketing by the use of events, such as Hong Kong’s ICAF, in marketing communications and branding of the city. Information was sourced from the HKTC, Hong Kong Tourism Board’s event marketers, arts media organizations and arts and tourism advocacy bodies in Hong Kong about the role of ICAFs in the initiative. Also, interviews were conducted with a selection of key stakeholders such as ICAF organizers, auction house representatives, gallery managers and marketers, art curators and artists. Lessons are extracted about how China’s Belt and Road Initiative may change the use of arts events for place marketing in the affected region.
