Pansy Ho is known as much for her business acumen as her tireless promotion of tourism development in Hong Kong and Macau, which is more important than ever for the two cities that have seen tourism affected by pandemic-related restrictions.

Ho oversees the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre, and is also a founding member of annual Macau event the Global Tourism Economy Forum, an executive committee member of the World Travel and Tourism Council and vice chairman of the China Chamber of Tourism. She was also appointed the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s first ever Tourism Ambassador in Asia in 2018.

Named in 2018 as Hong Kong’s richest woman by Bloomberg, the casino magnate and daughter of Stanley and Lucina is co-chairperson and managing director of MGM China Holdings. In August this year, Ho was named 15 per cent shareholder and managing director of MGM Grand Paradise, the company that holds the Macau gaming concession of MGM China. She is also a major shareholder in her late father’s Macau casino operator SJM; and the group executive chairman and managing director of Shun Tak Holdings, which runs the Hong Kong-Macau ferry service as well as a number of luxury hotels.

Ho is also a dedicated supporter of the arts, investing in a massive cultural outreach programme at the MGM Cotai, which opened in 2018. The vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, she is also vice president of the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association and chairman of the development committee of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is a standing committee member of Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.