Global Exhibitions Day engages wider audience

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Paris, 8th June: This year, Global Exhibitions Day (GED) took place on 7th June 2023. The advocacy event underscores the importance of exhibitions for all industries and economies.

 

This year the theme was “We run the meeting places and marketplaces for everyone.” The GED campaign focused on the role exhibitions play as a facilitator in developing industries, delivering strong economic benefits and providing a sustainable way of doing business.

 

According to UFI, GED activities are expected to reach audiences in more than 100 countries and regions just online alone, with over 3,000 pieces of unique content – through social media posts, messages, and comments. “Globally, thousands used the #GED2023 hashtag to share the power of the exhibition industry to create a lasting, global impact.”

PATA predicts strong tourism growth for Asia Pacific

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Bangkok, 31st May: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) released its updated forecast for 39 destinations in the Asia Pacific region, showing a strong increase in aggregate international visitor arrivals (IVAs) in 2023 and growth is expected to continue to the end of 2025.

 

PATA’s report includes three confusingly named scenarios: mild, medium and severe. The mild scenario is actually the strongest recovery vs. 2019 IVAs and severe is the weakest recovery vs. 2019 IVA numbers.

 

In summary, by 2025, PATA’s best case forecast for IVA’s in Asia will be 953 million compared with 683 in 2019. It’s worst case scenario is 613 million in 2025.

ILDEX Philippines 2023 presents 180+ exhibitors

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Manila, 7th June: VNU Asia Pacific’s Philippine Poultry Show & ILDEX Philippines 2023 ran from 7th to 9th June at SMX Convention Center in Manila. Covering some 5,000 m2 of exhibition space, ILDEX Philippines showcased more than 180 exhibitors, and attracted over 5,000 trade visitors.

 

ILDEX Philippines is part of the VIV worldwide portfolio, the show “remains committed to empowering the livestock industry, supporting its growth, and facilitating sustainable development in the Asia region.”

MITEC aims for digital transformation

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Malaysia, 5th June: The Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC) has developed its own app, created an Exhibitors Portal, installed digital signage, and engaged the firm Qualtrics to build its online survey platform for MITEC’s vendors.

 

Through the app, meals can be ordered from venue restaurants. The Exhibitors Portals serves as a “one-stop e-shop for exhibitors” to book venue spaces and pay online Digital signage will replace requirements for printed signage across the venue.

4,000 visitors at Vision China (Beijing) 2023

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Beijing, 6th June: Organised by Messe München Shanghai, China Machine Vision for Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation and Development Conference & Vision China (Beijing) was held at the Beijing International Convention Center.

 

Running from 17th to 18th May, a total of 3,951 professional visitors attended the exhibition this year which is an increase of 30% from the previous edition according to the organiser.

Quick takes

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Labour shortages bite in Hong Kong (and in Asia)

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is asking the Hong Kong government to import labour as its latest survey found that almost 75% of businesses in Hong Kong could not find qualified staff. Over 60% stated that they had been short of staff for one to three years. The MICE industry, hotels and F&B outlets are all facing similar challenges.

New CEO at QSNCC in Bangkok

Surapol Utintu has been appointed as the new CEO of Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC). Utintu has set a goal of making QSNCC a “world-class event platform for all.” Former CEO, Sakchai Pattarapreechakul has been appointed to the board committee.

Fukui prefecture spends on business events

CVB’s around the region are opening their wallets and spending to attract business events. Fukui prefecture is trying to compete with nearby Kyoto and Nagoya by subsidising a range of business events. This trend is gathering pace across the region including a surprising number of second and third tier cities.

IEG launches new shows in Singapore

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Singapore, 24th May: International exhibition organiser, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) will launch new shows in Singapore through its newly formed Asian subsidiary. The events will address the food & beverage and jewellery industries.

 

Café Asia, International Coffee & Tea Industry Expo, Sweet & Bakes Asia and Restaurant Asia Running ran from 25th to 27th May. The co-located events were held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre. A total of 243 brands from 26 countries were showcased at the shows.

 

The other show, SIJE – Singapore International Jewelry Expo 2023 will take place from 13th to 16th July, featuring 223 brands from 26 countries.

Macau reports hosting over 200 MICE events in Q1

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Macau, 29th May: Earlier this week, Macau’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released its MICE statistics for the first quarter of 2023. According to DSEC, a total of 208 MICE events were held in Macau in the quarter, compared with 97 events held in the first quarter of 2022. The total number of participants and attendees grew 21%, reaching almost 200,000.

 

The events were dominated by meetings and conferences (196 of 208). The total number of participants at meetings and conferences was just 22,000.

 

A total of 10 exhibitions were held during the quarter. The number of attendees increased by 11% reaching approximately 175,000.

Montgomery Asia to launch new A/V event in Singapore

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Singapore, 30th May: Later this month, Montgomery Asia will launch a new exhibition and conference addressing audio/visual professional and the entertainment lighting (AVL) industries. The inaugural Pro Integration Future Asia (PIFA) will be held in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre. The three-day event will run from 26th to 28th June 2023.

 

PIFA will be organised by Montgomery Asia along with support from the Professional Audio Visual & Lighting Integration Association of Singapore (AVLIAS) as its strategic partner. It will also be supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). The first edition is expected to attract approximately 100 exhibiting companies from 10 countries. Some 6,000 trade professionals from 20 countries are also expected to attend.

Quick takes

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Arc acquires Marketing in Partnership

Arc has announced it has acquired Marketing in Partnership (MiP), an events and marketing solutions partner serving the asset management industry. This is Arc’s seventh acquisition and third in financial services.

Alibaba launches a ChatGPT service

Alibaba has begun to roll out its ChatGPT-style technology. Tongyi Qianwen is the group’s large language model service – “a system that is trained on huge amounts of data in order to recognize and generate content.”

PCMA unveils its new advisory board

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has unveiled its new Regional Advisory Board for Asia. The 16-person advisory board features members that come from a wide range of segments within the business events industry.

Alibaba posts slower growth in FY2023

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Hangzhou, 18th May: Last week, China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced its financial results for the year ended 31st March 2023. Revenues in the financial year were US$126 billion, representing year-on-year growth of only 2%. Net income in the year grew 17%, reaching US$11 billion. Diluted earnings per share for the year were RMB 27.46 (US$4.00).

 

In terms of its B2B business, revenues generated from Alibaba’s B2B business in China, mainly through its 1688.com platform, were US$2.5 billion, resulting in a year-on-year increase of 2%. The international B2B business on Alibaba.com, also posted a 2% increase in revenues, reaching US$2.8 billion. These B2B businesses only account for just 4.2% of Alibaba’s total revenues.

Cairns Convention Centre to re-open in June

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Cairns, 24th May: The Cairns Convention Centre has completed its expansion and the venue will be officially opening next month. The total construction cost was A$176 million (US$116 million).

 

The expansion will add exhibition and plenary lecture space capable of hosting 400 people, provide new floor space of 10,500 m2. The venue also added a rooftop banquet area and three state-of-the-art meeting rooms. The expansion will enable the venue to simultaneously accommodate multiple events featuring conferences and exhibitions of up to 2,500 delegates.

Marina Bay Sands partners with associations

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Singapore, 23rd May: The Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre has formed strategic partnerships with two MICE professional bodies, the Events Industry Council (EIC) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) with the objective of “helping to shape the future of the industry.”

EIC represents 19,500 firms and 103,500 individuals in the business events industry. Under the terms of three-year partnership, Marina Bay Sands will further enhance its commitment to event professionals and industry excellence, and will also provide a platform offering strategic recognition and thought leadership opportunities in collaboration with EIC’s Certifies Meeting Professional (CMP), CMP Fellows, and knowledge programmes.

Marina Bay Sands has also extended its partnership with PCMA, agreeing to continue its commitment to advancing the global meetings and events industry. Marina Bay Sands will leverage the collective strength of Las Vegas Sands’ properties in Singapore and Macao by bringing together the expertise and resources across Sands’ properties in the region to support the industry.

Quick takes

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UFI, AIPC and ICCA agree to continue partnership

On the opening day of IMEX Frankfurt, UFI, AIPC and ICCA announced their intention to continue their strategic partnership. The agreement has been in place since 2019 and focuses on four areas: educational content, research, standards and advocacy.

QSNCC and COEX agree to cooperate

These two venues have signed an MoU agreeing to cooperate. The management teams hope to learn from each other in areas such as sales, marketing and operations. The agreement also allows managers to work at each other’s venues. Coex already has similar agreements in place in Vietnam where it co-organises some exhibitions.

MyCEB loses its top two managers

The CEO and COO of the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) have both announced that they are leaving the organisation. In late April, Abdul Khani Daud, the CEO, announced his retirement. Soon after COO, Noor Ahmad Hamid, announced his departure. No successors have been announced yet.

Singapore highly placed in ICCA’s global ranking

ICCA has released its global country and city rankings. Although the data is limited to “ICCA-recognised meetings,” it is a useful resource to understand which cities are succeeding in attracting meetings. Singapore was the top ranked Asian city placing 13th on the global table.

Informa acquires Winsight for US$380m

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London, 18th May: London-listed Informa PLC announced the acquisition of Winsight, a B2B events, data and media group, for US$380 million.

 

Winsight is primarily focused on the U.S. market and on the food services industry. The group’s business lines include: live & on-demand B2B events, data and research as well as specialist media service.

 

Informa plans to integrate Winsight into its existing B2B food services category. The group aims to generate annual revenues of US$115 million by creating more category leading events and services. Informa also noted that its “first party data engine,” IIRIS will benefit from Winsight’s close relationships with exhibitors, attendees and subscribers.

Koelnmesse now fully owns Indian subsidiary

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Cologne, 12th May: International exhibition organiser, Koelnmesse, has acquired all the outstanding shares of its subsidiary in India, Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Limited, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koelnmesse. The acquired subsidiary will be renamed Koelnmesse Pvt. Limited.

 

Koelnmesse YA Tradefair was founded in 2008. It was a joint venture between Ashwani Pande and Koelnmesse with its headquarters in Mumbai and a representative office in New Delhi. Today, the company employs has a total of 28 people and has additional offices in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Following the acquisition, Koelnmesse plans to expand the existing trade fairs and the develop of the new formats. Further cloned events are also planned.

Baidu returns to profit in Q1

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Beijing, 16th May: Earlier this week, Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search company, reported revenues of US$4.5 billion for the quarter ended 31st March 2023, which is a year-on-year increase of 10%. The company recorded a net profit of US$848 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of US$140 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Approximately 58% of Baidu’s revenues were generated from its online marketing services, amounting to US$2.6 billion. That figure grew 6.2% year-on-year. The remaining revenues, categorised as “other” increased by 15%, reaching US$1.9 billion. According to the company, its AI business was a key growth driver of the company’s revenues.