HKTDC praises government’s 2024-25 budget

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Hong Kong, 28th February: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) released its 2024-25 budget last week, introducing measures to boost Hong Kong’s economic growth and promote the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups.

The Hong Kong government will offer wide-ranging support to help SMEs manage their cash flow and accelerate their transformation, attract high-value added industries, capital and international talent to Hong Kong, and to promote green and digital transformation.

In the 2024-25 financial year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will provide support to SMEs through four initiatives.

Macau hosts over 1,100 MICE events in 2023

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Macau: 27th February: Earlier this week, Macau’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released its MICE statistics for the year 2023, reporting a total of 1,139 MICE events were held in Macau in the year, jumping 139% compared with the figure of COVID-hit year of 2022. The total number of participants and attendees grew 13%, reaching 1,602,400. Compared to 2019, the number of MICE events in Macau recovered to 74%, while the number of participants and attendees recovered to almost 80%.

Of the 1,139 events held in 2023, 1,058 were meetings and conferences, which grew by 163% year-on-year. The total number of participants at meetings and conferences jumped 291% to 170,000.

A total of 64 exhibitions were held in Macau in 2023. That is the same number as in 2022. The number of attendees increased modestly by 3.3%, reaching 1,421,600 attendees. The total gross area occupied by these exhibitions rose 15% year-on-year, covering a total area of 433,300 m2.

Baidu’s net income jumps 169% in 2023

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Beijing, 28th February: Baidu, the leading search engine in China, recently announced its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. The company reported revenues of US$19 billion, up 9% year-on-year. Net income for the year grew 169%, reaching US$2.9 billion. Diluted earnings per share were RMB 55.08 (US$7.76).

Revenues from Baidu’s core business reached US$15 billion in the year, up 8% year-on-year. The majority of its revenues (US$11 billion) were generated from Baidu’s online marketing business, also up 8% year-on-year. The company’s non-online revenue amounted to US$4.0 billion and that segment increased by 9%.

Made-in-China.com’s net income up 26% in 2023

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Nanjing, 23rd February: Last month, Shenzhen-listed Focus Technology, owner and operator of Made-in-China.com, reported its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. Revenues in the year were US$214 million. That represents a modest increase of 3.8% year-on-year.

The company’s net income in 2023 jumped 26% year-on-year, reaching US$53 million. Diluted earnings per share were RMB 1.21 (US$0.17). The company’s management attributed the growth to the steady growth in revenues of Made-in-China.com and its management’s tight focus on cost reduction and other operational efficiencies.

Quick takes

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There are plenty of Quick Takes worth looking at this week:

Taylor Swift – event planning (and revenues) on a massive scale

The billionaire singer-songwriter is transforming events and local economies. She sold 96,000 tickets at each of the three nights she performed in Melbourne. This weekend, Singapore is also feeling the Swiftie buzz.

SE Asian buyers came out in force to AIME

Buyers from Southeast Asia accounted for the majority of the fully hosted Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) buyers from Asia. Held in Melbourne, three-day event hosted more than 600 buyers and an additional 3,500 visitors. It also featured 570 exhibitors.

Chinese visitors not returning to Japan

Japan attracted far fewer Chinese tourists than expected over Lunar New Year. “The number of Japan visas issued to mainland China-based travellers for the holiday was only 60% of the number issued over the same period in 2019.” That is a worrying trend for many Japanese exhibitions that rely on Chinese exhibitors and visitors.

Chinese corporate travel dynamics are changing

These are some of the trends in China’s massive corporate travel market. This is worth reviewing given the potential impact on business events:

·       Sustainable travel gains traction

·       Balancing work and leisure with bleisure

·       Efficiency through data-driven management

·       Prioritising employee safety with robust risk management

·       The rise of virtual meetings in business communication

·       Adapting corporate travel to economic challenges.

Malaysian business events boom on weak currency

This will make life even more challenging for Singapore where the cost of doing business has leapt since COVID. “Last week, the ringgit plummeted to an all-time low against both the US dollar and Singapore dollar, reaching 4.8 against the US dollar and 3.6 against the Singapore dollar on 20th February.”