hktdc.com - Convention and Exhibition

Overview

Being the world's 12th largest trading economy, Hong Kong has developed into a premier convention and exhibition centre in the region. As a free port with superb air connectivity at the heart of Asia, exhibits, exhibitors, and visitors can move into Hong Kong conveniently, making the territory a preferred location in staging international conventions and exhibitions.
In 2008, Hong Kong won the Best MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) City Award organised by CEI Asia Pacific Magazine, an industry publication.
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), a prime exhibition and convention venue in Hong Kong, is undergoing expansion, with completion in Spring 2009 expected. After the expansion, HKCEC's exhibition space will increase by 42% to 66,000sqm.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) launched a "Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong" office (MEHK) in November 2008 to offer one-stop professional support to MICE organisers choosing Hong Kong as a destination for meetings and exhibitions.
In the 2009-10 Budget, Financial Secretary John Tsang earmarked HK$150 million (US$19.2 million) for the promotion of Hong Kong's MICE industry.
Under CEPA, companies set up by "Hong Kong Service Supplier" (HKSS) are allowed to organise overseas exhibitions on a pilot basis for locally-registered enterprises in Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, and Zhejiang.

Industry Data

-	2006	2005	% change
Number of exhibitions & conventions	296	292	+1.4%
Overseas visitors (thousand)	779	631	+23.5%

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Conventions

-	2006	2005	% change
Number of conventions	218	237	-8.0%
Overseas visitors (thousand)	38	64	-40.1%

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Exhibitions

-	2006	2005	% change
Number of exhibitions	78	55	+41.8%
Overseas visitors (thousand)	741	567	+30.6%

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Visitor Attendance of Conventions and Exhibitions by Major Markets 2006

Major markets	Visitor attendance	% Total
The Chinese mainland	241,921	31.0%
Europe, Africa and the Middle East	169,333	21.7%
South and Southeast Asia	110,627	14.2%
The Americas	91,044	11.7%
North Asia	77,973	10.0%
Taiwan	59,595	7.6%
Australia, NZ and S Pacific	28,831	3.7%
Total (overseas)	779,324	100.0%

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Hong Kong's Visitors

-	2006	2005	% change
Number of visitors (million)	25.3	23.4	+8.1%
For business and meetings	3.1%	2.7%	+0.4%
Per capita spending of overnight visitors (US$)	615	598	+2.9%

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Recent Development

More than 50 venues of various sizes are available in Hong Kong for exhibitions and conventions, with the HKCEC in the city centre and AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) near Hong Kong International Airport being two of the largest venues. Total available exhibition space in Hong Kong was at least 132,520sqm in 2008 and will increase to 151,920sqm following HKCEC's atrium expansion expected in Spring 2009. According to industry sources, net exhibition space sold amounted to over 800,000sqm in 2007, up 3.5% year-on-year (YoY) and equivalent to the size of 112 football fields.

In 2006, Hong Kong hosted 296 conventions and exhibitions. Some 779,000 overseas visitors were attracted to these events, up 23.5% YoY. According to the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA), out of the 95 exhibitions surveyed in 2007, the number of exhibitions exceeding a size of 1,819sqm grew to 42, up 5% YoY.

In 2008, Hong Kong won the Best MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) City Award organised by CEI Asia Pacific Magazine, an industry publication. The survey, launched in 2007 and covering over 13 countries and regions, had 48% of the respondents voting Hong Kong as their favourite city for conferences and conventions, while 35% chose the territory as the top choice for meeting and incentive destination.

Recognising the importance of the MICE industry's contribution to Hong Kong's economy, Financial Secretary John Tsang pledged to spend HK$150 million (US$19.2 million) to augment Hong Kong's position as a preferred MICE destination in the 2008-09 Budget. Chief Executive Donald Tsang also agreed to speed up a detailed study and public consultation on HKCEC Phase 3 expansion in the Policy Address 2008-09 unveiled in October 2008.

In November 2008, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) launched a "Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong" office (MEHK, www.mehongkong.com) to offer one-stop professional support to MICE organisers choosing Hong Kong as a destination for meetings and exhibitions. Such services include publicity, visitor promotion, coordination of site inspection, facilitation in securing local dignitary as officiating guest and liaison with government departments.

Service Providers

There are a large number of different service companies involved in the convention and exhibition industry, including stand constructors, insurance companies, freight forwarders, travel agents, and hotels. However, the central role played by event organisers in bringing together all these services makes them the most important industry service providers.

Exhibitions are broadly divided into two kinds: trade fairs and consumer fairs. The former targets buyers in the specific industries only; while the latter is opened to the public, mostly targeting the local market. Hong Kong's ease of entry and extensive air connectivity make it convenient for buyers to visit trade fairs held in
Hong Kong, and therefore the exposure of most trade fairs held in the territory is not only limited to the domestic Hong Kong market, but the international market as well, including especially the Chinese mainland.

Some exhibition organisers also provide a one-stop-shop solution by organising conferences, seminars or other side events as a supplement to exhibitions. The main function of the supplementary events is to provide a platform for the participants to have an exchange on recent industry developments and market information.

Some of the major international event organisers have regional headquarters in Hong Kong, which look after events organised in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland. In general, the larger international organisations have a wide variety of shows whereas the smaller organisers tend to specialise in organising similar shows in different locations. This enables them to leverage more business from exhibitors and establish themselves as experts in the field.

Apart from activities organised in the territory, Hong Kong's convention and exhibition organisers are increasingly bringing their exhibitors overseas. While the Chinese mainland is the priority, organisers are also actively looking for potential locations for organising their trade and exhibition events. Potential locations include not only those in advanced countries, but also emerging markets like the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

As of November 2008, there were 146 hotels offering 53,993 rooms in Hong Kong. Compared with 2004, there were only 101 hotels and 39,128 rooms and they increased by 44.6% and 38% respectively over the five years.

Hotels in Hong Kong, November 2008

-	High Tariff A Hotels	High Tariff B Hotels	Medium Tariff Hotels	Unclassified Hotels	All Hotels
Hotels	23	48	66	9	146
Rooms	13,177	18,468	16,741	5,607	53,993
Average tariff (Jan-Nov)	US$272	US$126	US$75	- -	US$158

Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Exports of Services

A main source of export income from the convention and exhibition industry is the spending by overseas participants to events held in Hong Kong.

According to latest available figures from the Economic Impact Study commissioned by the HKECIA, the exhibition industry contributed HK$26.4 billion (US$3.4 billion) to Hong Kong's economy in 2006 , up 39% from 2004. Of this amount, HK$8.2 billion (US$1.1 million) came from direct spending by trade fair visitors, with the ratio of expenditure by international visitors versus local visitors as 3:1. HK$5 billion (US$641 million) came from spending by event organisers and exhibitors (both local and overseas).

The exhibition industry's activities during 2006 were estimated to have provided an employment equivalent to 58,500 full-time jobs across a number of related industries, up 24.5% from 47,000 in 2004. Sectors benefiting the most were food & beverage, retail and hotel, taking up an estimated 76% of the employment created. The remaining 24% went to various sectors including stand construction, advertising, logistics and freight forwarding.

Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Hong Kong and the Mainland (CEPA)

The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), an agreement signed between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland facilitating trade in goods and services, allowed Hong Kong convention and exhibition service suppliers to provide, in the form of wholly-owned operations, convention services and exhibition services on the mainland from 1 January 2004. Those operations set up by Hong Kong service suppliers (HKSS) on the mainland under CEPA can also undertake relevant businesses in Hong Kong and Macau.

HKSS are also allowed to organise exhibitions, in the form of cross-border supply, in the Guangdong Province and Shanghai Municipality on a pilot basis starting from 1 January 2008.

Under CEPA, companies set up by "Hong Kong Service Supplier" (HKSS) are allowed to organise overseas exhibitions on a pilot basis for locally-registered enterprises in Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, and Zhejiang.

Hong Kong Industry Profiles