Lawmakers on Friday called on the government to bring large-scale sporting events to Hong Kong, after this year’s Rugby Sevens attracted thousands of international visitors to the city.

At a press briefing, sports sector lawmaker Kenneth Fok said 42 percent of the spectators at the sevens were tourists from overseas, and this demonstrated Hong Kong’s potential to become a sports tourism hub.

Fok said Hong Kong should collaborate with other Greater Bay Area cities in hosting international mega sporting events, as the SAR lacks large venues.

He added that Hong Kong should consider sharing sporting infrastructure with nearby cities.

“Within the Greater Bay Area, there are plenty of top-class stadiums and sporting venues. Hong Kong is a small place. Of course, we have the Kai Tak venue coming on line very soon at the end of the year,” Fok said.

“But, I always say that Kai Tak is only one of many top-notch stadiums in the Greater Bay Area. So how do we plug into the bigger picture? We have to operate as one Greater Bay Area, and this is, I think, the advantage that we pose.”

DAB lawmaker Vincent Cheng said next year’s National Games, which will be jointly hosted by Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong, will highlight Hong Kong’s ability to co-organise sporting events with other GBA cities.

“If we can have getting together, different stops, like one stop in Hong Kong and one stop in Shenzhen and one stop in Guangzhou, that would be great, that we can attract more different kinds of big events to have it in Hong Kong as well,” he said.

Cheng, who serves as vice-chairman of the government’s Major Sports Events Committee, said the authorities should consider tourism elements more when granting funding to sporting events, encouraging organisers to incorporate more tourism aspects in their activities.

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu, meanwhile, called on the government to foster cooperation between the tourism and sports sectors, and attract large-scale sporting events to the city.