MasterChef Australia will be returning to Hong Kong for the first time since season one 15 years ago, as Hong Kong’s Tourism Board attempts to lure back visitors to the city.
The 10 cooking show will film three episodes in the culinary hot spot, which is home to 77 Michelin-starred restaurants and over 15,000 dining establishments.
MasterChef Australia judges Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli, and this season’s crop of enthusiastic home cooks will experience the city’s cuisine, flavours on offer, iconic landmarks and bring the city’s intrinsic east-meets-west culture to our screens.
The show was last in Hong Kong during season one in 2009. Since then, the Hong Kong food scene has flourished and cemented itself as a world-class culinary hub, with everything from street eats all the way up to award-winning fine dining.
MasterChef Australia will be travelling to the city in association with Hong Kong Tourism Board and Cathay Pacific Airways.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has launched a global ‘Hello! Hong Kong’ campaign, working alongside local businesses in a bid to reboot the tourism and increase traveller numbers since Covid first hit, the South China Morning Post reported.
August saw Hong Kong welcome 4.07 million, the Hong Kong Free Press reported. While the number improved from July, it remained below the average pre-pandemic levels. The most recorded was 6.7 million back in January 2019.
Hong Kong welcomed 4.07 million visitors in August, up 14 per cent from the previous month, according to provisional data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). However, the figure remained below average pre-pandemic levels.
Hong Kong will launch a global campaign to lure back tourism following the lifting of the city’s strict entry regime for recent arrivals, even as officials admitted the reboot would take time and overseas tour operators remained sceptical that the eased rules were attractive enough.
MasterChef Australia judge Andy Allen said: “I’ve never been to Hong Kong, but I’ve been really interested in the place for a long time. That’s because I see the city’s array of food is off the charts: it’s a melting pot of different cultures, bold flavours, and one-of-a-kind ingredients.
“Blending Michelin-starred restaurants with bustling street markets, it seems to have this world-class food culture going on. It’s so good that now myself, the other judges, and contestants can finally get amongst it this season.”
MasterChef Australia is produced by Endemol Shine Australia (a Banijay company). Format created by Franc Roddam and represented internationally by Banijay Rights.
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Top image left to right: Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Sofia Levin, Jean-Christophe Novelli