Weekly Newsletter
Singapore, 25th February: International exhibition organiser, Deutsche Messe has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to establish its Southeast Asian headquarters in the Lion City.
Read MoreSeoul, 3rd March: In a bit of positive news, South Korea’s largest exhibition venue, KINTEX, will add 70,000 m2 after an expansion project is completed in 2024. The new wing will result in a total gross indoor capacity of over 178,000 m2. The country’s second largest venue is in Busan (46,380 m2) and the third largest is COEX in Seoul (36,007 m2).
Read MoreMalaysia, 28th February: Last week, in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the Malaysian government unveiled a massive RM20 billion (US$4.7 billion) economic stimulus package.
Read MoreIndia, 27th February: The Indonesia government has announced a special budget allocation of 298.5 billion rupiah (US$21.5 million) to help support its tourism business in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read MoreHong Kong, 6th March: Yesterday, unsurprisingly, Hong Kong-based Global Sources cancelled all of its April sourcing exhibitions. The will result in lost revenues of US$60 million to US$70 million for the company.
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Read MoreHong Kong, 24th February: The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in the cancellation or postponement of essentially all exhibitions and conferences in Hong Kong in February. That trend is expected to continue throughout March and likely most or all of April.
In response to this crisis situation, the Hong Kong government has released more than HK$1 billion (US$130 million) in subsidies designed to support the business events sector. The package is part of a much larger (US$3.9 billion) relief package that will provide support to a wide range of business sectors in the territory.
Basel, 20th February: Last week, Art Basel announced a new digital initiative offering exhibitors an platform to showcase their art to Art Basel’s global network of buyers and collectors.
The “first edition” of the Online Viewing Rooms will launch next month serving exhibitors which planned to present their work at the now cancelled Art Basel Hong Kong. The Online Viewing Rooms will be live from 20th to 25th March, while VIP preview days will run from 18th to 20th March.
Germany, 27th February: This database is by no means globally comprehensive, but our friends at m+a News have made a valiant effort to record the impact of COVID-19 on an event-by-event basis. This database has over 220 cancelled or postponed Asian exhibitions in it as of today.
Due to the spread of the Covid-19, many of the trade fairs around the world have been postponed or cancelled. According to media reports, at least 223 trade fairs and exhibitions in Asia have announced to be postpone or cancelled.
Melbourne, 25th February: Organised by Talk2Media & Events, the Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) was held in Melbourne running from 17th to 19th February at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Talk2Media impressively managed to record a 20% increase in registered delegates despite the COVID-19 outbreak and the recent Australian bushfires.
According to Talk2Media, which as managed the past two editions of AIME, the 2020 edition attracted more than 2,500 visitors and 300 exhibitors. Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, the Australian government has imposed travel restrictions on travellers from Mainland China – and in fact Beijing has also imposed restrictions. As a result, less than 5% of the AIME buyers this year were from Mainland China.
Good sources of COVID-19 data
Below are two good, reliable sources of data on the global number of COVID-19 infections. As of 27th February, a total of 82,294 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed and that has resulted in 2,804 deaths.
World Health Organization report
Airlines suffering and some will not make it
The Chinese government is working on plans to takeover the HNA Group and sell off its airline assets. And since Cathay Pacific will further cut its flight capacity in February and March, that airline may suffer the same fate.
Business Traveller article [1]
Business Traveller article [2]
Macau casinos partially re-open
In case you were worried about how all of this is affecting casino billionaires… After remaining closed for 15 days, Macau has partially re-opened its casinos as of 19th February.
U.S. outbreak now likely say health officials
The United States is “increasingly likely” to suffer a significant outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. This will also likely kick the media hysteria into overdrive.
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Read MoreAnd of the more serious cases, those at risk are the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately, these facts have been lost in the avalanche of media hysteria around COVID-19.
There is no shortage of media coverage on the long list of consumer and business events that have been cancelled or postponed.
This is an excellent summary from Bloomberg on decisions made by airlines around the world in response to COVID-19. There is no shortage of media coverage on the long list of consumer and business events that have been cancelled or postponed. Here are some of the more interesting takes on the current situation:
Homes in Hong Kong are world-famous for their sky-high prices – and apparently, prices remain immune to the COVID-19 virus… at least for now.
And stops offering passengers food, drinks, pillows and blankets! The end must be near for Hong Kong Airlines. How far behind can Cathay Pacific be?
Singapore, 16th February: Organised by Experia Events, the biennial Singapore Airshow recorded smaller visitor number than previous editions due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Read MoreSingapore, 11th February: Singapore’s government is receiving praise for its calming, sensible approach to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Across Asia, governments are struggling to reassure their citizens that the danger is limited. On the other hand, Singapore’s government appears to have deployed a communications strategy that has effectively reduced panic, dispelled rumours and undercut conspiracy theories.
Read MoreHangzhou, 13th February: Last week, Alibaba Group, the largest e-commerce company in China released its financial results for the quarter ended 31st December 2019. Revenues in the quarter were US$23 billion, an increase of 38% year-on-year. Net income in the period was US$7.2 billion, representing a rise of 51%.
Its B2B business, Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce wholesale business which primarily operates on 1688.com, recorded revenues of US$483 million, year-on-year growth of 25%. While its international e-commerce wholesale business which trades on Alibaba.com, increased by 13% generating US$353 million. The company’s Cainiao logistics services business jumped 67% posting revenues of US$1.1 billion. The cloud computing business grew by 62% recording revenues of US$1.5 billion.
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Read MoreThis is not an article, but a case-by-case documentation of the location and status of each known case in Hong Kong. It presents useful, clear and concise data from the Hong Kong government.
There are plenty of large-scale factors affecting business events recently including: protests, bushfires, the coronavirus and earthquakes… just to name a few. This is an interesting, longish article on managing risks, navigating a crisis and how event managers can best emerge from a crisis.
The team at UFI has pulled together this useful reference page on the latest regarding the newly named COVID-19 virus. And on the UFI blog, the association is posting updates from national associations in affected areas.
Cathay Pacific has been battered by the Hong Kong protests in the second half of 2019 and now by the coronavirus outbreak. Nikkei takes a close look at the state of Hong Kong’s flagship airline.
Tarsus has announced that it has established a joint venture with Unfiltered Experience, a U.S.-based beauty event organiser with editions in Los Angeles, Nashville and Chicago.
Bangkok, 12th February: The Thai government has become one of the first to begin allocating money to support business events industry following the coronavirus outbreak. The Bangkok Post reports a 50% decline in recent weeks of international participants at MICE events in the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read MoreLondon, 13th February: This week, Reed Exhibitions, the world’s second largest commercial exhibition organiser after Informa Markets, released its results for 2019. Underlying exhibition revenue growth was reported as 6%. Underlying operating profits fell by 1%. Management highlighted that they launched 50 new events globally in 2019, acquired Mack Brooks and that they will begin rolling out data analytics initiatives at events in 2020.
Read MoreBusiness Strategies Group is the only market intelligence & strategy consulting firm in Asia with a special focus on business media, information and events. Our services include research, market intelligence, mergers and acquisition support and strategy development.
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