“Top 10 Consumer News 2025” Results Announced Kai Tak Sports Park Takes Top Place and Named “Most Liked” Hot Air Balloon Festival Incident Voted as “Most Outrageous”

The Consumer Council announced the results of its “Top 10 Consumer News 2025” voting campaign today (5 February), which attracted a total of 13,024 voters. Kai Tak Sports Park, which commenced operation early last year and has since staged a variety of mega events, recorded over 1 million visits within less than 6 months. It topped the list with 5,515 votes and was simultaneously voted as the “Most Liked” consumer news with 7,530 votes. The Government’s announcement last year regarding adjustments to the $2 transport fare concession for senior citizens ranked second with 4,831 votes. The Hot Air Balloon Festival controversy, which became the talk of the town after failing to carry passengers due to licensing issues, ranked third with 4,459 votes and was also named the “Most Outrageous” consumer news with 7,056 votes. Other consumer news which made it into the top 10 spanned the food and beverage, travel and medical sectors, including the closure of food and beverage heavyweights such as Ocean Empire, Tai Pan and Super Star; the withdrawal of Deliveroo from Hong Kong; the cancellation of over 100 flights by Greater Bay Airlines; travel agents and airlines impacted by rumours of earthquakes in Japan; and the opening of Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital. As cross-boundary activities between Hong Kong and the Mainland become more frequent, 2 related news stories also made the list: the launch of Payment Connect which facilitates faster payment between residents in the Mainland and Hong Kong, and the chaos at self‑pickup points caused by free‑shipping promotions for online shopping. The results reflect the breadth of consumer issues raising public concern, especially with regard to service quality and the handling of consumption‑related disputes, indicating consumers’ heightened awareness in safeguarding their own rights.

Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, Chairman of the Consumer Council, expressed his gratitude during the result announcement ceremony, “We are truly encouraged by the keen participation this year. My sincere thanks go to all media partners for their active promotion, which significantly boosted public engagement. The voting numbers clearly show the public’s high level of concern for their consumer rights. To further enhance consumers’ access to consumption information, the Council will launch a mobile application in late 2026 to mark the 50th anniversary milestone of CHOICE Magazine, enabling consumers to make informed and smart choices anytime, anywhere. We will also continue to work closely with the media to enhance market transparency.”

Mega events continued to be a popular topic last year, with 2 of the top 3 consumer news relating to such events. “Kai Tak Sports Park Opens  Mega Events Staged Successively  Visitor Experience Steadily Improves  Over 1 Million Visits in 6 Months” ranked first with 5,515 votes, and was also voted the “Most Liked” consumer news with 7,530 votes, representing 58% of all voters. However, some event arrangements were less satisfactory. “Permission Not Granted for Hot Air Balloon Festival Passenger Flights  Ice‑cream Vouchers Issued as Compensation Trigger Dissatisfaction Leading to Refunds” ranked third with 4,459 votes and was also named the “Most Outrageous” consumer news with 7,056 votes, representing 54% of all voters. The Council urges the industry to honour promises and meet consumers’ reasonable expectations when organising and promoting events. In the event of unexpected situations, flexible handling should be adopted.

Multiple news items in the top 10 were related to various aspects of daily life, from apparel, dining, to housing and travel. In terms of food and beverage, the public was concerned about the closure of some long-established household names such as Ocean Empire, Tai Pan and Super Star, as well as Deliveroo’s exit from Hong Kong. 3 travel-related news stories were among the top 10, including the adjustments to the “$2 Scheme” for senior citizens, the cancellation of over 100 flights by Greater Bay Airlines, and the impact of Japan’s earthquake rumours on travel agent and airline businesses. Cross-boundary consumption was also a hot topic for consumer news, including the overloading of self-pickup points for parcels due to free-shipping for online orders, and the launch of Payment Connect. As for healthcare-related news, the opening of the first Chinese medicine hospital also generated public interest. Please refer to Appendix 1 for the voting results and ranking.

The “Top 10 Consumer News” voting campaign aims to raise public awareness of and attention to consumer rights. From the very first year, the campaign has partnered with major media organisations to encourage public participation. This year marks the 22nd year of the campaign. With the generous support of HK01, Hong Kong Economic Times, Cable News, Oriental Sunday, Radio Television Hong Kong, SkyPost, Sunday Kiss, TOPick, U Magazine, and Yahoo, this year’s campaign was successfully held from 2 to 22 January 2026 and received widespread attention.

Appendix 1

“Top 10 Consumer News 2025” Voting Results and Ranking:

Consumer News Hot Topics Results:

Image captions

1. Dr Alaina Shum, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council and media partners share their views on the nominated consumer news.
2. Mr Tony Pang Chor-fu, Vice-Chairman of the Consumer Council announces the results for the second to sixth “Top 10 Consumer News” alongside media partners.
3. Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, Chairman of the Consumer Council announces the results for the top consumer news and the “Most Liked” news in the topical category.
4. Group photo of all representatives from supporting organisations and the Consumer Council.