Visits at Australian business events spent US$14b in 2023

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Australia, 28th March: Tourism Research Australia (TRA) has published some interesting business events data as part of its official statistics. For example, the result of its Domestics Visitor Survey (NVS) and International Visitor Survey (IVS) are included in the data.

In 2023, visitors travelling for business events spent A$20.9 billion (US$14.2 billion) in Australia, with A$2.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) coming from international visitors. International visitor numbers in 2023 were 742,000, which was 71% of the 2019 pre-COVID figure.

Pico Thailand returns profit in Q1

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Bangkok, 1st April: Earlier this week, Pico Thailand, the Thai-listed subsidiary of Pico Far East Holdings, announced its results for the quarter ended 31st January 2024. Revenues during the quarter were US$7.9 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 19%.

The company posted a net profit of US$95,000 in the quarter, compared with a loss of US$210,000 in the same quarter of 2023. Earnings per share in the quarter were Baht 0.016 (US$0.00045).

SEEC Media narrows profit in FY2023

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Hong Kong, 28th March: Last week, SEEC Media, a Chinese B2B media group, released its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. Total revenues in the year were US$4.9 million, falling 48% year-on-year. However, the company narrowed its loss from US$11 million in 2022, down to US$4.8 million in 2023.

Nearly 70% of SEEC’s revenues were generated from its advertising services & sales in its books & magazines segment. Revenues from that business were US$3.4 million. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 47%.

CCID revenues up 37% in weak economy

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Beijing, 28th March: CCID Consulting, a research and information service provider in China, recently announced its financial results for 2023. Revenues were US$39 million, up 37% year-on-year. The company’s net profit jumped 159%, amounting to US$9.0 million. Earnings per share in the year were RMB 0.0901 (US$0.013).

More than 58% of CCID’s revenues were generated from its consulting services, amounting to US$23 million. This segment increased by 15% year-on-year. Its second largest business segment was its technology innovation platform services, generating revenues of US$12 million which accounts for 30% of the company’s total revenues. This segment generated US$2.1 million in the previous year. The remaining revenues were generated from its data platform services (US$4.4 million), which grew 207% compared with the previous year.

Quick takes

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Registration now open for the 2024 UFI Global Congress

UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has opened registration for its 2024 Global Congress. The 91st edition of the event, hosted by Koelnmesse, will take place from 20th to 23rd November 2024 in Cologne, Germany.

STB launches new global MICE campaign

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a new global marketing campaign to position Singapore as the “World’s Best MICE City.” No doubt, a few other cities in Asia and around the world will have something to say about that. See below.

Hong Kong’s Tourism Chief declares “World’s Meeting Place”

The city’s tourism board says that MICE arrivals are nearing pre-pandemic levels and an international business-events publicity tour will follow. Hong Kong will be wooing international business event organisers as part of its campaign to establish the city as the “World’s Meeting Place.”

Alibaba’s share repurchase is underway

Alibaba announced the company repurchased 524 million ordinary shares for a total of US$4.8 billion during the quarter ended 31st March 2024. For the fiscal year ended 31st March 2024, the company repurchased nearly 1.3 billion ordinary shares for a total of US$12.5 billion. Alibaba currently has 19.5 billion shares outstanding.