Thousands held in Chinese exhibition venue

This week, tens of thousands of exhibitors and visitors were detained in the massive Pazhou Complex venue in Guangzhou after one person with potential exposure to COVID attended the event. Remarkable photos and details in the link below. Meanwhile, a widening omicron outbreak in China has resulted in lockdowns or partial lockdowns in major cities including Shenzhen and Shanghai. It now seems that business events in China are largely on hold for at least two months.

Hong Kong increasingly left behind

As the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Japan all ease COVID requirements for visitors, Hong Kong is sticking to its self-destructive, draconian hotel quarantine and social distancing policies. Mix Meeting’s Martin Donovan summarises the gloom residents feel in Hong Kong.

Hyve acquires U.S. virtual meeting organiser

Some good news from the Hyve Group after a rough couple of weeks. Hyve’s top line revenue has been strongly hit by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and by China’s unexpected shutdown. This week, Hyve announced that it has agreed to acquire U.S.-based virtual event organiser, FinTech Meetup. The start-up has facilitated 20,000 meetings for some 2,100 managers since the beginning of 2021. Hyve will pay an initial consideration of US$5 million, which could be increased to US$50 million by 2025 – depending on FinTech’s performance in the coming years.

UFI organises 7th Global Exhibitions Day

This week, UFI announced plans for the 7th annual Global Exhibitions Day (GED) – the third edition during the COVID pandemic! On 1st June, GED will provide the hard-hit exhibition industry with a platform to highlight the important role that events can play in global economic recovery.