Seven HKTDC Autumn Fairs attract 190,000 plus buyers

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Saurabh Gupta | 16 Nov, 2017
Seven trade fairs organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in October and November attracted a total of more than 9,500 exhibitors, and welcomed over 190,000 buyers from 176 countries and regions, informed HKTDC on Wednesday.

The attendance figures is similar to last year’s, said HKTDC.

The seven fairs were: the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition), electronicAsia, the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), the Hong Kong Optical Fair, and the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, which were held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC); as well as the Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo, and Eco Expo Asia, held at the AsiaWorld-Expo.

International trade fairs attract many business visitors with high consumption power to Hong Kong. The seven autumn fairs drew more than 7,000 Chinese mainland and overseas exhibitors (up six percent over last year), and about 120,000 mainland and overseas buyers (up three percent) to Hong Kong.

Buyer attendance from a number of countries and regions, including the Chinese mainland, India, Korea and Thailand, recorded satisfactory growth. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, per-capita spending of overnight MICE visitors was HK$7,700, which includes fees for hotel accommodation, shopping, food and beverage, local transport and sightseeing (excluding cross-border transport).

HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said: “Based on this figure, the total amount spent by Chinese mainland and overseas exhibitors and buyers during their stay in Hong Kong would amount to more than HK$1 billion, a significant source of income for the tourism industry. In addition, the fairs also brought in substantial orders for local exhibitors, resulting in a major driving force for the development of local industries.”
The HKTDC commissioned an independent survey about market prospects and product trends to gauge the views of more than 1,600 exhibitors and buyers at the autumn Electronics Fair, Lighting Fair and the Outdoor and Tech Light Expo.

The survey found that more than half of the respondents (51%) expected overall sales to grow next year, while 43 percent expected it to remain unchanged. A majority of respondents saw Taiwan (84%) and Japan (79%) with the most growth potential among traditional markets in the next two years, while 78 percent and 77 percent of respondents considered North America and Western Europe to be promising or very promising, respectively. For emerging markets, respondents were optimistic about the Chinese mainland (92%) and ASEAN (89%) markets.

Most respondents considered the business challenge this year to be rising operating costs (45%), followed by price fluctuations in raw materials (41%), and keen competition within the industry (33%). Twenty-seven percent of respondents were concerned about fluctuations in the global economy.