Hosting the Asian debut of the Hyrox World Championships could bring more high-spending visitors to Hong Kong and the city’s selection as host may have been driven by its proximity to the vast mainland China market, experts have said.

The announcement that the pinnacle event of the fitness race would take place at the AsiaWorld-Expo in June next year was made on Thursday in Sweden, which is hosting the championships this weekend.

An estimated 1.5 million athletes are expected to have competed in Hyrox events in 95 cities during the sport’s 2025–26 season, and officials predict that number will grow to more than 2 million next year.

Only about 10,000 of the sport’s top athletes will be invited to Hong Kong for a chance to be a world champion.

Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said Hyrox was similar to marathons in attracting devoted participants, who would travel to different countries for major events.

“I believe these would be more sophisticated visitors to Hong Kong who could be more specific with their travel experiences,” he said. “Once they’re done with the competition, they might want to do something beyond … sightseeing.”

Chui noted that the Hyrox world championship had been held in the United States and Europe since the Covid-19 pandemic and many participants would have to fly farther for the Hong Kong event, suggesting they would have bigger travel budgets and could spend longer in the city.