Weekly Newsletter
Guangzhou, 10th January: The China Import and Export Fair Complex (Canton Fair Complex) is on its way to becoming the world’s largest exhibition complex.
The construction on the expansion started in December 2020 with four functional areas: exhibition halls, conference centre, administration centre and registration hall. After completion, the Canton Fair Complex will cover more than 1.62 million m2.
Singapore, 16th January: The Paris-based event organiser, Comexposium and the National Retail Federation (NRF) announced plans to expand Retail’s Big Show to Asia in 2024 featuring a new conference and exhibition. The inaugural Asia Pacific edition of Retail’s Big Show will take place at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore running from 11th to 13th June 2024.
Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific will be added to Comexposium’s portfolio of retail events which includes: One to One Retail E-commerce, Paris Retail Week and SIEC in France, Franchise Expo in the Americas, adTech in Japan and India, and iMedia in Australia and New Zealand.
Thailand, 18th January: Thailand plans to bid to host the 2028 World Expo in Phuket. In support of that, Thailand’s Foreign ministry hosted the “Local to Global” Phuket Expo 2028” campaign to rally the nation and businesses to support the bid.
Approximately 250 representatives from the diplomatic community in Thailand attended the campaign kick-off. Thailand’s has selected a theme of “Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity” for its bid.
China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years. The country’s national birth rate was at a record low of 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The population in 2022 fell by 850,000 compare with 2021.
Macau recorded more than 55,000 visitor arrivals on 14th January. In December 2022, the city had a daily average of 12,909 visitors. During the lunar new year holiday, an average of 47,000 visitors is expected.
The government in Singapore is optimistic about the pace of recovery of visitors from China. Outbound bookings from China have already surged – as have airfares. Business event organisers in the Lion City are anticipating a large boost to their businesses.
Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)
Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2023)
For the first time since 2019, UFI’s Asia Pacific Conference will be back in-person!
Open to both members and non-members, the event will be held on 2nd and 3rd March in Kuala Lumpur at KLCC. Hosted by MyCEB, the conference will feature two days of content, networking and much more!
Conference details and registration on the event website.
London, December: The Hyve Group plc (formerly ITE Group), a London-listed media group, has released its preliminary results for the year ended 30th September 2022. Revenues for the year were £122.5 million (US$137 million) compared with the figure of £21.8 million (US$24 million) in the previous year. The group’s 2022 revenues were slightly higher than 2019’s pre-COVID revenues of £121.5 million (US$136 million).
According to Hyve, the majority of its events continued to recovery during the recent financial year, with the important exception of China, where most of the group’s events were cancelled due to government mandated pandemic restrictions.
In Asia, Hyve generated revenues of just £5.8 million (US$6.5 million) in the financial year – an improvement of 35% compared with the year before.
Singapore, 10th January: Constellar, a Singapore-based event organiser and venue manager, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the China National Convention Center (CNCC), a convention centre in Beijing.
This MOU enables Constellar and CNCC to explore strategic partnership opportunities and facilitate MICE industry exchanges between Singapore and China in 2023 and beyond.
Melbourne, December: More good recovery news from Australia. In the financial year 2021-2022, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) hosted 349 events and welcomed some 1.6 million visitors - including thousands of international delegates. The venue generated A$383 million (US$264 million) in economic benefit for the state of Victoria during the year.
According to MCEC’s 2021-2022 Annual Report, event numbers, delegate attendance and economic impact for the year continued to trend rapidly upwards after the venue reopened in late 2021. The management of MCEC, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust, will also expand its operations as it begins to manage the new Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre which will open in 2026.
Hong Kong, 5th January: This week, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) opened its first trade fairs of 2023. The 49th Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, the 14th Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and the 21st Hong Kong International Stationery & School Supplies Fair took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 9th to 12th January 2023. The concurrent trade fairs brought together more than 1,000 exhibitors, showcasing a wide range of toys, baby products and stationery items.
The Toys & Games Fair and the Baby Products Fair are organised by the HKTDC, while the International Stationery & School Supplies Fair is jointly organised by the HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.
The good news is that as of 8th January, China reopened its borders and eased most of its COVID and social distancing restrictions. On the other hand, it may be a bumpy return to near normalcy as airlines, airports, hotels, immigration authorities, etc. struggle to quickly ramp up to meet demand.
Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) chairman Stuart Bailey was on Backchat, a local radio programme in Hong Kong. In the interview, he was optimistic about the outlook for trade fairs in Hong Kong and he praised officials’ efforts in preparing the city to once again host business events.
The Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) has appointed a new director of convention and exhibitions. Noor Azlan will focus on increasing the number of international business events held in Malaysia.
In another sign that things are getting back to normal, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) returned to the business of expanding its network of cooperative agreements. The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau and TCEB agreed to strengthen cooperation and collaboration to revitalise business events.
Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)
Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2023)
China, 27th December: Last week, China’s National Health Commission announced plans to remove the mandatory quarantine for travellers arriving from overseas as of 8th January 2023. Beijing eased all its COVID restrictions significantly in December. This reversal follows some lockdowns in large cities in November as well as some vocal street protests in cities across China in December.
Currently, travellers arriving from overseas must quarantine five to eight days in a hotel. As of 8th January, travellers will no longer be required to quarantine, but they have to provide proof of a negative PCR test 48 hours before arrival in China. The wearing of masks on flights bound for China will remain compulsory.
Shenzhen, 20th December: RX (formerly known as Reed Exhibitions) has announced the founding of RX (Shenzhen) Exhibition Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RX based in Shenzhen.
In China, RX hosts more 70 trade fairs every year through its wholly-owned companies and joint ventures. These events serve 12 sectors including automobiles, electronics, smart manufacturing, gifts & retail, medical & health care, printing & packaging, catering and entertainment. Key amongst these JVs is RX Huabo which was established back in 2007. RX Huabo’s flagship event is the Shenzhen Gift Show. RX Huabo organizes over 10 gifts and home events across different cities in China every year.
Taiwan, 2nd January: At the end of last month, the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) in Taiwan hosted a Taiwan MICE ESG Day which included a press conference to release the 2022 Taiwan MICE Sustainability White Paper.
The White Paper is positioned as one of the most complete business events sustainability documents in Asia, covering the entire lifecycle of the business events industry across five key factors: sustainability, impact, resilience, collaboration and ownership.
Frankfurt, 19th December: Last month, Messe Frankfurt, an international exhibition organiser, released its preliminary figures for the financial year 2022.
After many pandemic restrictions were eased in April 2022, Messe Frankfurt returned to growth again. In 2022, the company hosted some 310 events which attracted about 52,000 exhibitors and 3.3 million visitors. Its revenues are expected to be €450 million (US$472 million) in the year, compared with just €154 million (US$162 million) in the 2021 financial year.
Mix Meetings summarises some of the key events set to be hosted in Hong Kong beginning in March including the Clockenflap music festival and the Rugby Sevens. Of course, March and April are also high season months for trade shows in Hong Kong.
Also on the plus side, Macau’s gaming companies have promised to invest US$15 billion over the next ten years to boost non-gaming activities including a range of business events.
Over TTG Asia, Karen Yue highlights just a few of the challenges ahead as China throws open its borders and potentially millions of people try to travel into and out of the country.
Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)
Paris/Hong Kong, 15th December: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, is bringing back its Asian conference. The association will hold its 16th UFI Asia-Pacific Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 2nd and 3rd March 2023.
The event is open to all exhibition industry professionals. This is the first time since March 2019 that the UFI Asia Pacific Conference is back in-person, face-to-face. UFI’s annual gathering has been on hold for three years due to the global pandemic and the travel restrictions that came with it.
Bangkok, 13th December: Earlier this week, Pico Thailand, the Thai-listed subsidiary of Pico Far East Holdings, announced its full-year financial results for the year ended 31st October 2022. The company posted a net profit of US$538,000 this year, compared with a loss of US$864,000 last year. Earnings per share of the financial year were Baht 0.092 (US$0.0024).
Pico Thailand recorded total revenues of US$29 million, up 74% compared with the year before. The company attributed the increase in revenues in part to the Thai government’s easing of COVID restrictions and the economic recovery that followed that policy decision.
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