Weekly Newsletter
Worldwide, 1st June: Several exhibitions have now been held in China including in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. The Hunan Auto Show ran from 30th April to 5th May at the Hunan International Convention and Exhibition Centre. More than 100 car brands showcased some 600 vehicles at the show covering an exhibition area of 60,000 m2.
Read MoreThe Chinese e-commerce giant is increasingly targeting the U.S. market and the trade show industry.
The organiser’s August jewellery event will feature a virtual platform for international buyers who cannot attend. Hong Kong will still have quarantine measures in place for international arrivals in August – and the event’s venue, AsiaWorld-Expo, is currently a testing site for COVID-19.
Made-in-China.com will hold online “simultaneous events” beginning on 15th June which will “create digital, immersive and convenient sourcing experience for global buyers.”
Perhaps driven in part of by lockdowns and the unprecedented challenges faces the industry, GED resulted in record engagement – over 7,000 mentions on social media and delivered “reach” of over 650 million with over 100 countries participating.
International exhibition organiser, Messe München, appointed Michael Wilton as the new General Manage in Singapore, effective 1st June 2020.
Paris/Melbourne, 28th May: Last week, UFI – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, announced that the 2021 Asia-Pacific Conference will be held in Australia for the first time. The dates will be announced in the coming weeks, but this event is typically held in late February or early March.
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Read MoreHangzhou, 22nd May: Earlier this week, China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced its financial results for the year ended 31st March 2020. Revenues were US$72 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 35%. Net income in the year jumped 70% to US$21 billion. Diluted earnings per share in the year were RMB 55.93 (US$7.90).
Read MoreCologne, 20th May: International exhibition organiser, Koelnmesse, reported a new record in 2019, with revenues of €412.7 million (US$462 million), a 15% increase compared with the same figure in 2017 (Koelnmesse compares odd years due to the number of biennial events in its portfolio.) Net income in the year was €30.5 million (US$34 million). The company’s management attributed the success in 2019 to the strong performance of its own events as well as the performance of its venue in Cologne.
Read MoreHong Kong, 22nd May: Last weekend, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) hosted its first exhibition since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The 98th Hong Kong Wedding Fair, a local consumer exhibition, was originally scheduled in February, but was rescheduled to run from 22nd to 24th May. The Wedding Fair was organised by Hongkong-Asia Exhibition Limited (HAE).
Extra precautions were put in place by both the venue and the organiser.
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Read MoreEEAA, the Australian exhibition industry association, is calling on state and federal authorities to set a start date for business events. There will be more and more of these calls as economies in Asia begin to restart.
The always-active team at TCEB in Thailand have released new guidelines for venues and organisers looking to hold events as the country comes out of lockdown. The guidelines comprise five key measures such as limiting the number of attendees, temperature screening of attendees and social distancing.
There is a proposal to inject €80m of public funds into the venue manager and event organiser, Messe Berlin according to reports in the German media. ITB, one of Messe Berlin’s flagship events, was cancelled in March. Other cancellations soon followed.
There will be many more of these announcements in the months ahead. Hanley Wood is a U.S.-based B2B media group focused on property, construction and design.
This is a very long and comprehensive list of routes that will be restarted in the coming two months.
Hong Kong, 11th May: Recently, Hong Kong-listed Sino Splendid (formerly China.com) has reported its results for the quarter ended 31st March 2020. Sino Splendid is the owner and operator of the travel media group, TTG.
The company’s total revenues dropped 47% year-on-year, down to US$1.7 million in the quarter. The company posted a net loss of US$244,000 in the quarter, compared with a net profit of US$170,000 in the previous year.
Bangkok, 12th May: Last week, Bangkok-based business information provider, Business Online (BOL), released its financial results for the first quarter of 2020. Revenues in the period were US$4.6 million, an increase of 20% year-on-year.
BOL’s net income in the quarter grew 30% compared with the first quarter of last year, reaching US$1.2 million. Earnings per share in the period were Baht 0.049 (US$0.0015).
Beijing, 18th May: Earlier this week, Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 31st March 2020. Total revenues in the quarter were US$3.2 billion, which is a decrease of 6.5% year-on-year. Net income in the quarter was US$5.8 million, compared with a net loss of US$49 million in the first quarter of 2019.
Read MoreAmsterdam, 12th May: According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), there were a global total of 13,254 rotating international association meetings in 2019, which is a new record. That figure is an increase of 317 meetings compared with 2018.
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Read MoreSheldon Adelson has announced that Las Vegas Sands has decided not to pursue a bid for the right to develop an integrated resort (IR) in Japan. The Japanese government has been accepting bids for IRs in areas including Yokohama, Osaka and Hokkaido. Reportedly, Caesars and Wynn Resorts have also dropped out. It is unclear if that reveals more about the financial health of the casino companies or something about how this bidding process is being managed.
Step-by-step, parts of Asia are moving in a positive direction. The Hong Kong government is currently in talks with authorities in Macau and Mainland China with a view towards lifting some of the travel restrictions between the three territories.
An interesting, well-researched and mostly hopeful take on the likely path to recovery of travel in China. McKinsey predicts that “travel will return in other countries much as it has in China. The young will go first. Travel will involve nearby destinations. Economy travel will recover more quickly. And outdoor and nature-related destinations will be more popular than congested cities.”
Perhaps in a sign that the e-commerce giant does not want to see its rival, Tencent, move into its turf of B2B sourcing, Alibaba has quickly unveiled an online exhibition offering. The details are thin, but it could be interesting if Alibaba throws resources and money at this initiative.
A good article from Bloomberg on an often overlooked corner of the Alibaba empire. Lazada is an Alibaba subsidiary that focuses on Southeast Asia. The e-commerce platform is helping Southeast Asian farmers to sell produce during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Nanjing, 25th April: Also last month, Focus Technology, operator of the B2B sourcing platform Made-in-China.com, reported revenues of US$32.3 million in the quarter ended 31st March 2020 – which is a modest decrease of 3.4% compared with the same quarter in 2019.
However, the company posted a loss of US$2.86 million, compared with a profit of US$9.2 million recorded last year. Focus Technology’s management attributed the loss to increasing costs affecting all aspects of its operations.
Hangzhou, 29th April: Last month, Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Netsun announced its results for the year ended 31st December 2019 and for the quarter ended 31st March 2020.
In the financial year 2019, the company generated revenues of US$50.2 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 15%. The company attributed the decline to weak performance on its B2B trading platform.
Shanghai, 1st May: Earlier this month, Shanghai Lansheng released its financial results for the quarter ended 31st March 2020. The company reported a decrease of 25% in revenues, down to almost US$82.5 million. However, the company’s management did not comment on the reason for the decrease.
Within the same period, the company recorded a loss of US$7.1 million, compared with a profit of US$17.9 million last year.
China, 8th May: Last week, the State Council of China (SCC) released a set of important guidelines. Crucially, the document contained a statement allowing exhibitions to restart based on local conditions. Much of the decision-making will be left to local authorities in China at the city- and provincial-level. The document also offered guidance on the prevention of imported and domestic cases of COVID-19.
Published on the Chinese government’s official website, the SCC authorities noted that measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 can now be reduced to “normal level.” The SCC document cites a number of industries and activities that this directive covers including “public spaces, event spaces and events.”
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