Hong Kong’s surprisingly healthy hotels

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Hong Kong, 11th April: Despite so much the concern about Hong Kong’s future and a weak post-COVID economy, its hotels appear to be performing surprisingly well. According to the Hong Kong Hotels Association (HKHA), the industry is still recovery, but in 2023, Hong Kong’s average room occupancy was 82%. That is quite impressive, especially given that 2018 was an all-time record high at 91% in 2018. Moreover, during the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, Hong Kong’s average hotel occupancy rate was 93% which is about the same level as the 2019 Lunar New Year holiday.

High-end hotels performed better than the mid-range and budget categories due to the changing travel pattern of Chinese visitors and unfortunately, the government announced in its 2024-25 budget, the 3% hotel accommodation tax will return from 1st January 2025. The HKHA worries this could dampen performance, but that is unlikely to affect to mid- to high-end hotels.

RELX expects strong growth in 2024

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London, 25th April: Yesterday, London-listed RELX Group plc released its latest trading update, and management reaffirmed the outlook for the full year.

Its exhibitions business, which accounted for 12% of the company’s revenue in 2023, the group is expected to deliver strong underlying revenue growth this year. Management highlighted increased “face-to-face activity” across all of the group’s key geographies. In addition, growth will also be supported by the rising use of a “growing range of value-enhancing digital tools.”

Meorient’s profit jumps nearly 350% in Q1

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Hangzhou, 26th April: Shenzhen-listed exhibition organiser, Meorient released its results for the quarter ended 31st March 2024. Meorient organises trade shows that aim to bring Chinese businesses overseas – particularly to emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America.

Meorient generated revenues of US$11 million, an increase of 12% year-on-year. The company’s profit in the quarter jumped 349%, compared with the same quarter last year, reaching US$667,000. Diluted earnings per share in the three-month period were RMB 0.03 (US$0.0042). The company’s management did not comment on the growth drivers or the company’s outlook for the rest of the year.

Quick takes

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JEGI outlines AI’s impact on exhibitions

JEGI, a boutique investment bank, has released a 25-page white paper on the coming impact of AI on a number of industries including exhibitions. Areas of change: lead generation, task automation and tailored event experiences. See page 16.

Newsletters are alive and thriving?

The newsletter, the dinosaur of marketing tools, is surprisingly and persistently effective. It is not all good news, but DigiDay offers this fascinating article on just how cheap and effective newsletters can be.

Beijing continues to push Hainan as free trade zone

For years, Beijing has been promoting Hainan Island as a duty-free shopping and free trade zone. According to the Exhibition World article, it might be working as reflected in its consumer products exhibition which featured 4,000 brands spread across 128,000 m2, according to the government organiser.

UFI MEA Conference goes to Kigali

UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, organised its UFI Middle East & Africa Conference to Rwanda earlier this month. Hosted by the Rwanda Convention Bureau at the Kigali Convention Centre, the event was held from 15th to 17th April, bringing together attendees from 15 countries.

Spring Canton Fair attracts 28,000 exhibitors

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Guangzhou, 18th April: The Spring Edition of the Canton Fair opened on Monday this week in Guangzhou.  According to the organiser, more than 87,000 overseas buyers and 28,000 exhibitors will participate in the event. This despite trade and political tensions between China and the U.S. and to a lesser degree, Europe.

Media reports stated that buyers attending the Canton Fair from the U.S. are up more than 20% compared with to the Autumn Edition. Mix Meetings reports that “There was also increased interest from countries in ASEAN’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Middle East.”

Taipei launches MICE sponsorship programme

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Taipei, 15th April: The Taipei City Government launched a sponsorship programme to attract international conferences, exhibitions, and incentive travel groups to the city.

Under the terms of the programme, applications will be evaluated based on the event’s scale and social impact. Events also need to fulfil specific criteria in terms of foreign participants and a local service enterprise or travel agency must be used for applying to the programme.

New MICE shows arrive in Singapore

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Singapore, 11th April: Singapore will host two industry events in April, Business of Events and the Meetings Show Asia Pacific. The Business of Events, organised by PCMA Asia Pacific will take place at Marina Bay Sands.

The Meetings Show Asia Pacific is the regional new trade show – a geo-clone of the London-based, the Meetings Show. Meetings Show Asia Pacific 2024 is supported by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and organised by Northstar Travel Group. It opened on 17th April at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands.

RX Japan launches new space exhibition

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Japan, 17th April: RX Global’s subsidiary in Japan, RX Japan, will launch a new show, SPEXA, the Space Business Expo this month. The event will run from 24th to 26th April 2024 at Tokyo Big Sight – Japan’s largest exhibition venue.

According to the organiser, the new show will aim to “foster collaboration and innovation in the space industry, showing Japan’s commitment to advancing space exploration and technology.” The theme of SPEXA 2024 will be “Bridging Japan and the World’s Space Business.”

Quick takes

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88,000 buyers at HKTDC’s spring tech shows

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) concluded its two spring tech shows, InnoEX and Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) which attracted some 88,000 buyers from 139 countries and regions with about 3,000 exhibitors from 20 countries and regions.

Global Sources opens April 2024 shows

Global Sources opened its April 2024 Global Sources Hong Kong Shows on 11th April 2024, the first of three phases. The first phase, Global Sources Consumer Electronics, and Global Sources Electronic Components, featured some 4,000 booths. The second phase, featuring mobile electronics, home & kitchen, etc. is on this week. While the third phase, fashion, sports and outdoor gear will be held 27th to 30th April. BSG will report the numbers as they are published.

A lesson about venue-organiser event risks

Not an Asian story, but a well-written and thoroughly researched story about what can go wrong with organiser-venue joint ventures. (Short answer: A lot.) Good work by Mike Fletcher at Exhibition News.

More MICE competition between Singapore and Bangkok

A TTGmice article with details about the competition heating up between Singapore and Bangkok for MICE events. Both have strong government support, world-class venues, a good customer service culture and so on. Singapore maybe feeling the squeeze as the cost of doing business there has risen considerably since COVID.

Yen at record lows

This is an article about Singaporeans flocking to Japan for holidays due to the incredibly weak yen. The Japanese yen is now at 34-year lows trading at 155 yen to the US dollar. (Less than a decade ago, it was 80 yen to the US dollar.) If that trend holds, it could massively boost foreign participation at Japanese trade shows.

Messe Düsseldorf creates new regional hub in Asia

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Singapore, 10th April: International exhibition organiser, Messe Düsseldorf, announced plans to separate its Asian business from its German headquarters. Messe Düsseldorf for Asia (MDfA) will combine its five Asian subsidiaries in one centrally coordinated entity.

The new company will be led by Regional Head Marius Berlemann (Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf in China), Deputy Regional Head Gernot Ringling (Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf Asia). Together with their team, they will centrally coordinate sales and attendee marketing for Messe Düsseldorf in Asia.

Marina Bay Sands plans expansion

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Singapore, 5th April: Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has entered the final phase of design and programme enhancements for its planned expansion. The construction will begin in July this year and MBS’s management expects it to be completed by July 2029.

The expansion will include a luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, additional MICE space, and new restaurants and bars. MBS will use the new arena to help attract top entertainers from Asia and around the world, and the additional MICE space to help attract more business events to MBS including exhibitions and conferences – several of which are wall-bound.

DLG Expo’s revenues up 84% in 2023

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Shanghai, 11th April: Earlier this week, Shanghai-listed DLG Exhibitions (formerly Shanghai Lansheng) released its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. Revenues in the year were US$200 million. This represents a year-on-year increase of 84%. The company attributed the growth in revenues to a strong performance from its domestic exhibition business.

Net profit jumped 141% year-on-year, reaching US$31 million. Diluted earnings per share in 2023 were RMB 0.52 (US$0.073).

Quick takes

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Hong Kong’s newest venue will have 50,000 seats

The Kai Tak Sports Park is scheduled to open in mid-2025. It will feature a 50,000-seat domed stadium and 10,000-seat indoor arena for sports and entertainment. ASM Global will manage the venue and have recently hired Matthew Lazarus-Hall to manage the entertainment business to be developed at Kai Tak Sports Park.

Biometric tech reshaping travel

A new white paper argues that touchless, highly efficient biometric technology is the answer for airports to securely cope with surging numbers of travellers. This technology could also transform registration at business events (in some countries).

New and renovated venues in multiple markets

Competition between venues is heating up. Three venues in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore are opening new facilities and refurbished meeting spaces. Other venues that have are expanded and improving supporting facilities include AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Tier two Chinese cities attracting international incentives

So says TTGmice. This article reports that incentive trips to China are making a comeback in 2024 due to relaxed visa policies and the relative affordability of second-tier destinations. TTG reports that cities such as Kunming, Chengdu, Xi’an and Chongqing are attracting incentive groups.

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%.