Vincent Lo, a respected property tycoon and chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), in an interview with a local newspaper reporter on Oct 15, urged the government to find land in urban areas to build convention and conference facilities. The idea, however, seems to be a non-starter.

Most people in Hong Kong realize how precious land is, not to mention urban land. If there is urban land available, it would be used to build high-priced commercial buildings or five-star hotels. As the Hong Kong government adopts an economic policy of non-intervention, it is hard to see it offer a helping hand to the convention and conference sector and not others in the city. Many businesses are suffering from high rents and the government has done nothing. Hong Kong is, after all, a free market.

The solution to finding land or space, which requires us to think outside the box, seems to be a viable and positive one: Using space and facilities of our eight government-funded higher education institutions. Many of them, including the City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, are located in urban areas. The bulk of local universities' auditoriums, classrooms and hallways are empty on Saturdays, Sundays and during the summer holidays. Why can't we organize exhibitions and conferences in these facilities?

Universities also will benefit from such an arrangement as they can get rentals from the convention and conference organizers, perhaps with the HKTDC serving as a go-between. Universities should put these facilities to productive use all day, seven days a week.

Universities, indeed, could use the extra income to improve facilities, fund academic research or set up scholarships for students. It is a win-win situation for the universities and the convention and conference organizers. The solution is always there. Why hasn't anyone thought of such a perfect and win-win arrangement?

Some academics might criticize this idea as a breach of their academic freedom. We shouldn't be too narrow-minded, nevertheless. University space is not sacred. The convention and conference organizers definitely need to employ people to run stalls or organize conferences. This might create more job opportunities for university graduates and even students.

It is painful to learn that Hong Kong turned down 84 applications for renting exhibition venues between 2010 and last year because of a shortage of convention space. During the same period, Hong Kong also rejected 129 applications for conference venues for the same reason. It is worrying to imagine how much money and job opportunities Hong Kong has lost due to such space being unavailable.

There is, sadly, a snowball effect. If convention and conference organizers pass over Hong Kong (due to a lack of space) and opt for Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore or Beijing, thousands of business travelers will give us a miss. The consequences could be serious. People in Hong Kong know well that business travelers spend more money than sightseeing tourists. Business people usually stay at expensive hotels, whether in peak or non-peak seasons, and they shop a lot. If they all go to our neighboring cities, it might be another blow to the SAR's economy.

It is necessary to diversify Hong Kong's tourism market by attracting more business visitors such as exhibitors and foreign participants. The number of tourists coming to Hong Kong between January and August dropped slightly from the same period in 2014. Last year, tourists visiting Hong Kong rose 12 percent from 2013 to 60.8 million. The alarm bells are ringing, to borrow a metaphor. We can reverse the trend by attracting more business travelers.

Government officials, university professors and HKTDC executives should come up with ways to offer university facilities on weekends and holidays to convention and conference organizers. University space is government property. We should use this to help boost Hong Kong's economy and create more jobs for university graduates and for the well-being of our citizens.

(HK Edition 10/27/2015 page9)