Weekly Newsletter
Japan, 5th July: Japan is expecting a record-breaking 2024 for its travel and tourism sector, based on its “robust recovery” in 2023.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Research, the travel and tourism sector will account for 7.5% of Japan’s GDP, reaching almost 44.6 trillion yen (US$276 billion), which is a 5.7% increase compared with 2019.
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, released the 2024 UFI Marketing Award winner to be RX Germany. The topic for this year was “Data-driven revenue: The secret ingredient for Venues and Event Organisers”. RX Germany will present its project at the 91st UFI Global Congress from 20th to 23rd November 2024 in Cologne, Germany.
Maritz, a leading company in meetings and event management, announced the acquisition of Convention Data Services (CDS), a registration, on-site and lead services partner for trade shows and association events, from Freeman. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Jointly organised by Hannover Milano Fairs (HMF) Shanghai and DLG Exhibitions & Events Shanghai Industry & Commerce Exhibition Co., Ltd., the South China International Industry Fair (SCIIF) 2024 concluded at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, covering a total area of 80,000 m2 and featuring over 800 exhibitors. Over 133,000 professional visits were recorded during the three-day event.
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 2024)
Hong Kong, 28th June: Last week, Hong Kong-listed Pico Far East Holdings announced its interim results for the six months ended 30th April 2024. Revenues were US$376 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 18%. Profits in the six-month period jumped 90% to US$24 million.
In terms of business segments, 86% of Pico’s revenues were generated from its exhibition, event & brand activation business (US$325 million). This business was up by 18% year-on-year. The management attributed the increase in the business to the robust rebound in Pico’s key geographic markets.
Bangkok, 24th June: VNU Asia Pacific has announced plans to collaborate with the National Cyber Security Agency of Thailand (NCSA) to support the 2025 edition of “Cybersec Asia x Thailand International Cyber Week 2025”. This follows the success of the first edition of Cybersec Asia held in January 2024.
The 2025 edition of Cybersec Asia will be held from 22nd to 23rd January at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok. The event will target cybersecurity experts, start-ups and key public and private sector players.
Macau, 28th June: Macau announced plans to establish a new institute, Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute, as of 1st July 2024. The official abbreviation will continue to be “IPIM”.
The new institute is a merger of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao).
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has announced Easyfairs as the winner of the 2024 UFI Sustainable Development Award and Fiera Milano as the winner of the 2024 UFI Industry Partners Award. The two winners will present their projects at the 91st UFI Global Congress in November 2024 in Cologne, Germany.
Indonesia president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) aims to boost international arrival numbers to the country by holding more international events. This year, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE) has a budget of US$235 million and target of over 14 million arrivals.
Despite relatively recent political tensions, visitors from Australia and New Zealand will now able to enter China without a visa for business or tourism for up to 15 days. Since last year, China has been expanding its list of unilateral visa-free countries. This is driven in part by its slowing economic growth.
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 2024)
Australia, 20th June: Mulpha Events, an Australian event organiser, has announced plans to acquire the Australian Adventure Expo (AAE) from Brooks Events. No financial details related to the transaction have been released.
AAE, launched in 2021, serves the Australian outdoor recreation sector. AAE is positioned as the platform for importers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers Australasian outdoor recreation industry. Following the acquisition, the AAE team will all join Mulpha Events.
Mulpha Events will organise the upcoming edition of AAE at the Brisbane Showgrounds in Queensland, running from 5th to 6th March 2025.
Hong Kong, 18th June: The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) has announced plans to launch a new exhibition and conference dedicated to airspace and unmanned traffic management (UTM) in the Asia Pacific region.
The event, Airspace Asia Pacific, will run from 9th to 11th December 2025, at AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) in Hong Kong. The event will aim to bring together senior leaders in the air traffic management (ATM) and UTM industries to “foster innovation and collaboration.”
Thailand, 21st June: Last week, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) released its strategic roadmap for the meetings and incentives sector for the 2024-2025 fiscal.
TCEB’s strategy focus will cover four areas: i) maximising opportunities for Thai business events stakeholders; ii) bolstering support measures to influence buyer decisions; iii) elevating both online and offline platforms for showcasing Thailand’s offerings; and iv) fostering industry knowledge advancement to keep Thai stakeholders at the forefront of the sector and global trends.
Paris & Bahrain, 25th June: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, will bring its 93rd UFI Global Congress to the Kingdom of Bahrain. The association’s largest annual event will be hosted by Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB), a venue.
The UFI Global Congress rotates to a different city (and region) each year. The event gathers exhibition industry leaders from around the world for networking and several days of content. The 2026 edition will bring the event back to the Middle East for the first time since 2022 edition in Oman, which attracted more than 400 delegates from over 50 countries and regions.
The Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) launched the inaugural edition of Sigep Asia, a new event focused on gelato. It is a geo-clone of Sigep World. Running from 26th to 28th June 2024, the show featured over 300 brands from 31 countries.
Last year, Messe Frankfurt recorded revenues of €770 million (US$851 million) – that is an increase of more than 25%. During the past year, a total of 349 events were held, featuring some 86,400 exhibiting companies and over 4.3 million visitors.
Messe München recorded group revenues of €441 million (US$487 million) in 2023. Other key stats include: organising 19 trade fairs and hosting 93 “guest events”. The events attracted some 32,400 exhibitors and two million visitors. In Asia, electronica China was its biggest trade fair in 2023. IE expo China occupied all 17 halls at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC).
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has appointed a new Head of Marketing and Communications, Pierre Aurélien Vidon, He will be based in Paris.
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 2024)
Hong Kong/Shenyang, 18th June: The management company of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), HML Limited, has announced that Diane Chen will become the second Deputy Managing Director at HKCEC, effective 2nd July 2024. Diane will also be appointed to the company’s Executive Leadership Committee.
Diane is currently the General Manager of Shenyang New World EXPO. When she takes up her new role at HKCEC, Mr. Leslie Li will assume the position of General Manager of Shenyang New World EXPO. Effective 18th June 2024, he will lead the administration, operation and staff of Shenyang New World EXPO.
Bangkok, 19th June: The Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) will be rebranded as BITEC Buri, as it is transformed into a comprehensive lifestyle and community hub.
The transformation is targeted to be completed by the end of this year – including a 7,000-seat BITEC LIVE concert hall, and SAMA Garden, an outdoor venue with extensive green space. BITEC will continue to provide over 57,000 m2 of indoor exhibition space for B2B and B2C events.
Sarawak, 13th June: The Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) has announced a collaboration with Centexs Commercial Services (CCS), a government-linked company which is part of the Sarawak Government.
This is part of MyCEB’s commitment “to reinvigorate the local business events landscape.” CCS was established in 2019 with a mission to support the “commercialisation value of heritage products and foster opportunities for local entrepreneurs in Sarawak.”
London, 21st June: Informa Group CEO, Stephen A. Carter, announced this week, at a trading update that the group would deliver over 10% in 2024.
The company announced five-month underlying revenue growth of 10.1%. So far this year the group has recorded revenues of approximately £1.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) and an additional £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) of subscriptions / exhibitor revenue committed for 2024. Management also noted that events rebookings into 2025 are looking strong.
Informa also highlighted growth due to partnerships in key markets: Saudi Arabia (Tahaluf, 51% shareholding) and China (Sinoexpo, 70% shareholding) and Beauty (BolognaFiere, 13.5% shareholding).
Informa Markets’ Super Terminal Expo now has the support of two powerful players in China’s aviation industry – Hong Kong International Aviation Academy (HKIAA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The exhibition will be held at AWE in November this year.
The UFI European Conference was held last week, running from 11th to 13th June 2024. Held at Messe Zürich, it attracted 300 delegates from 41 countries and regions. It was hosted by MCH Group. The content focused on the five trends that UFI highlighted at the start of the year – changing customer expectations, sustainability, AI, climate change, M&A, etc.
Messe Düsseldorf has appointed a new General Manager in China. Ms. Evian Gu will lead the subsidiaries Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai and Messe Düsseldorf China, effective 1st August 2024. She will succeed Marius Berlemann, who will become Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH from 1st August 2024, and continue to be Regional Head of Messe Düsseldorf for Asia (MDfA).
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 2024)
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