HK Gov't does not see benefits of AWE outlet mall

Last week, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Rita Lau was asked by Paul Tse in Hong Kong's Legco about the possibility of building an outlet mall next to the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) venue.

AWE is located near Hong Kong's international airport and it sits somewhat in isolation compared to its primary competition, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), which is located in Wan Chai on Hong Kong island.

Tse noted that "AWE has all along been criticised for being too far away from the town centre," but despite that efforts have been made to improve transportation links to AWE and increase co-operation between various nearby attractions (e.g. Ngong Ping 360, Hong Kong Disneyland, the Big Buddha).

Tse wondered why a international group interested in building a large-scale outlet mall next to AWE received the cold shoulder from the HK Government.

Secretary Lau replied with two reasons:

1) The outlet mall group wanted the car park site next to AWE which she essentially said they cannot have "since part of the proposed site has been earmarked for accommodating essential airport operational facilities." How essential are those operational facilities given it has been sitting as a (largely unused) car park for 5+ years?

2) Ms. Lau also noted that "its [the outlet mall] purpose and target clientele hugely differ from those of the AWE. Though the development of a large-scale outlet mall near the airport could provide an additional leisure facility for the AWE users, this would not directly help enhance the utilisation of the AWE because different organisations have different considerations while taking up rental space at the AWE."

This is incorrect. While it is true that an outlet mall would not likely serve to attract more exhibitors or visitors to B2B exhibitions such as the ones organised by Global Sources at AWE, an outlet mall (and a greater concentration of attractions in general) around AWE would, however, serve to make AWE a much more viable venue for consumer exhibitions.

Consumer exhibitions combined with a greater range of entertainment options could coax more visitors to decide to spend the day at the venue. This is a very real and achievable way to increase AWE's utilization rate. Too bad the Hong Kong government isn't interested.