Stock Exchange Museum

No rainy day shelter at exchange museum $20 fee meant to bar unwelcome visitors, not to make profit
13 April 2006
South China Morning Post

Visitors to the stock exchange museum due to open later this month will be charged $20, a fee that could bring in up to $600,000 a month.

The stock exchange board decided on the entry fee yesterday not so much to raise money as to prevent people abusing the facility, a source said.

The exchange trading floor was redeveloped last year to a third of its original size - from 900 booths to 300 - as most brokers conduct business from their own offices.

The rest of the area has been turned into meeting rooms, a viewing gallery and a museum of the history of the stock exchange.

The revamped trading hall opened in January. The meeting rooms, which can be rented for seminars or annual general meetings, and the museum, which is capable of handling up to 200 visitors an hour, will open on April 26.

Provided the museum stays open eight hours a day, it has the potential to raise up to $600,000 over 20 trading days a month, which is almost half the $1.25 million monthly rent the exchange pays the government.

However, it was unrealistic to expect the museum to become a popular tourist attraction, the source said, adding the decision to charge was not motivated by profit.

"The major reason is to discourage people who only want to enter the area to enjoy the free air-conditioning or to stay there as a shelter if it is raining," the source said.

"It is in a prime location in the heart of Central and could too easily become a meeting point for tourists. The charge ensures only genuine visitors who want to learn about the local stock market are there."

The exchange will consider waiving the fee for students, the elderly and the media.

Yesterday's board meeting was the last chaired by Charles Lee Yeh-kwong, who will step down on April 26 after serving the maximum six-year term.