Weekly Newsletter
London, 13th February: This week, Reed Exhibitions, the world’s second largest commercial exhibition organiser after Informa Markets, released its results for 2019. Underlying exhibition revenue growth was reported as 6%. Underlying operating profits fell by 1%. Management highlighted that they launched 50 new events globally in 2019, acquired Mack Brooks and that they will begin rolling out data analytics initiatives at events in 2020.
Read MoreHong Kong, 14th February: This has been a difficult week in Hong Kong and around the region. A long list of events big and small have been cancelled or postponed. Some notable developments include the following:
Art Basel Hong Kong – one of the city’s flagship cultural events has been cancelled.
The Sónar HK music festival has been postponed.
Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and Singapore Sevens have been postponed until October.
The HKTDC has postponed its March jewellery shows - which use both of Hong Kong’s large venues. The new dates are in May.
Canton Fair Complex (venue), like all venues in China, has suspended all exhibitions until further notice.
TAITRA, after originally sticking with its March dates for the Taipei Cycle Show, has opted for a postponement with a special edition in May.
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Read MoreBillionaires from Jack Ma to Bill Gates have agreed to donate money to support the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus.
And the casinos are bracing for a much larger hit as the operators have “agreed” to close the all of the gaming floors for at least two weeks in February.
Longines and AsiaWorld-Expo have announced that the Longines Masters of Hong Kong, an equestrian event, has been cancelled. To date, Hong Kong has recorded just 21 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus and only one death of a man with a pre-existing condition.
It is unclear if these Chinese tech firms see a slowing Chinese economy and are therefore looking abroad or if this is just a part of their plan for global expansion. Either way, this is an interesting short summary of who is up to what in India.
London, 31st January: Reed Exhibitions, the world’s second largest commercial exhibition organiser after Informa Markets, has appointed a new CEO. As of 1st February, Chet Burchett stepped down from his leadership of Reed Exhibitions. Burchett’s replacement is Hugh Jones who will report directly to RELX CEO, Erik Engstrom.
Read MoreHong Kong, 5th February: There is really only one story dominating the regional and global headlines this week: the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus and the impact that it continues to have both on public health and its increasingly severe economic impact.
Read MoreTaipei, 31st January: Bucking the trend, TAITRA has announced that it will go ahead with its important Taipei Cycle Show. The large-scale event will be held as planned on 4th to 7th March. Taiwan has recorded just 10 cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
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Read MoreBeijing, 24th January: The number of infections is now up over 600. The number of deaths attributed to the virus is 17 – reportedly all older males with pre-existing conditions. Beijing has ordered Wuhan and six other cities locked down with significant travel restrictions in place as China heads into the lunar new year holiday when hundreds of millions of people are on the move across the country.
Read MoreHong Kong, 19th January: Hong Kong’s government is loosening the purse strings. The intense protests combined with the Wuhan coronavirus have pushed Hong Kong’s economy into a recession and as a result, the administration of Carrie Lam has decided to operate in a deficit again in 2020-21. This is an unusual financial position for Hong Kong.
Read MoreSydney, 21st January: The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) has appointed a new Chief Executive to replace Joyce DiMascio who resigned in the final quarter of 2019 in order to pursue new opportunities. Claudia Sagripanti, an events and digital marketing veteran, will take on the role of EEAA’s new Chief Executive beginning on 17th February 2020.
Read MoreHangzhou, 17th January: Alibaba Group’s subsidiary, ANT Financial, is reportedly planning to offer shares in a private placement which will value the company at US$200 billion – the would make ANT Financial one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
Read MorePrivate equity giant, Blackstone, already owns Global Sources, Clarion Events, Pennwell, the NEC Birmingham just to name a few. Now the group owns a few major landmark properties in Las Vegas.
Singapore’s event industry association celebrated its 40 years of history last week. These articles look at some of that history as well as look forward to the future of the MICE industry in the Lion City.
Visitors to Macau were up 10% in 2019 to an incredible 40 million, but the Macau Tourism Office is forecasting a 3% drop in 2020.
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Read MoreHong Kong, 13th January: Hong Kong suffered through a uniquely difficult second half of 2019 with regular political protests and occasional violent clashes between the police and protesters. Although exhibition sector performed well under the circumstances, it would difficult to overstated the negative impact this had on all other categories of events – conferences, corporate meetings, live entertainment, etc. The most recent example is the cancelation of the very popular Chinese New Year fireworks.
Read MoreLausanne, 12th January: Alibaba continues to disrupt a long list of industries and business processes. This week, Alibaba revealed details about its plans to manage ticketing at the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Beijing (despite the lack of… snow and mountains).
Read MoreSingapore, 9th January: Montgomery Asia continues its push into Asia since it was officially established in 2016. Last week, the company announced the launch of new show, Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia (SCTA) which will be held alongside the fourth edition of Speciality & Fine Food Asia (SFFA), a B2B show targeting Southeast Asia’s gourmet & fine food and drink segment. The shows will also be co-located with another show, Restaurant, Pub & Bar Asia. All three events will be held on 29th September to 1st October 2020 at Suntec Singapore.
Read MoreKunming, 13th January: In China’s second and third tier cities, there is no shortage of under-used exhibition venues that are simply too large for the market that the venues are meant to serve. One of the best examples of this is the 310,000 m2 Kunming Dianchi Convention & Exhibition Center (DCEC).
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