Hong Kong’s convention and exhibition industry finally appears to be on the path to recovery following the easing of Covid control measures on both sides of the border. It has been a long road back after the pandemic seriously slowed down the sector from 2020 onwards. Just 175 trade shows took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the AsiaWorld Expo in the two years to September 2022, a 45% drop from pre‑Covid levels, while many shows were held on a reduced scale with local exhibitors and buyers pretty much the sole focus.

It was not until the second half of last year, when the Hong Kong government started to gradually ease travel restrictions, that the industry began to slowly come back to life. Following the mainland’s easing of its Covid Zero policy coupled with the efforts of the Hong Kong government, the HKTDC, the Hong Kong Tourism Board and industry players at large, the convention and exhibition industry is showing renewed signs of confidence.

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Managing Director Monica Lee‑Müller pointed out just six months ago how bleak the situation was, highlighting that the Convention and Exhibition Centre had hosted about 110 trade shows a year before the pandemic, with that number having plummeted to a record low of 12 in the first half of last year. Big international fairs such as Cosmoprof Asia, Asia-Pacific Leather Fair (APLF) and Jewellery & Gem World, which had Hong Kong as their home base, simply moved to Singapore and other cities following the easing or lifting of entry‑exit restrictions in many parts of Asia and the rest of the world.

Yet, in the second half of 2021, a number of public trade fairs targeting local visitors resumed and attracted a healthy level of attendance, with the HKTDC‑organised Hong Kong Book Fair and Hong Kong Food Expo drawing 850,000 and 430,000 visitors, respectively – while these were reasonable numbers, suggesting a loyal following, they were still well below the pre‑Covid levels.

One of the main catalysts for the return to normalcy was the Hong Kong government’s easing of its quarantine policy to “0+3” at the end of September, with HKTDC’s five autumn technology fairs in mid‑October subsequently attracting buyers from countries as diverse as India, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Poland and Thailand. These were staged in an Exhibition+ hybrid format and comprised more than 3,000 trade seminars and 10,000 buyers browsing products and negotiating online. The fairs also attracted the online participation of more than 340 Chinese and overseas companies. While the industry looks forward to staging physical events, the autumn technology fairs’ success has been seen as proof that the hybrid format is widely acceptable to the business community at large.

Furthermore, the convention and exhibition industry is now set to benefit from the launch of a new HK$1.4 billion scheme set up to subsidise more than 200 exhibitions in the city over the next three years. According to documents submitted by the government’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau to the Legislative Council, the scheme will run from 1 July this year to 30 June 2026.

Government support aside, the efforts of many individual industry players are not to be overlooked. Kenneth Wong, General Manager MICE and Cruise of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, said that many trade shows will return to Hong Kong in 2023 while some will come for the first time. Of these, four flagship fairs – the Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong, Jewellery & Gem Asia Hong Kong, Cosmoprof Asia and Asia Fruit Logistica – are all scheduled to take place between June and November. In terms of new projects, seven big conferences have chosen Hong Kong as their preferred locale, including the globally popular WOW (World of Web3) Summit. RISE, one of the world’s most influential events, which will take place in the city next year.

Speaking in November last year, AsiaWorld Expo Chief Strategy Officer Enid Low said many exhibition organisers had moved their temporary offices back to Hong Kong in anticipation of the easing of the Covid control measures. She also highlighted that the AsiaWorld Expo had started a HK$600 million renovation project. In addition, following the construction of the Sky Bridge connecting the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Airport City, the whole airport area will be home to exhibitions, inevitably attracting international and mainland visitors to Hong Kong.

Nanfang Ribao, a mainland news outlet, reported in December that Guangdong had been gearing up for business with the full recovery of Hong Kong’s convention and exhibition industry in sight.

Guangdong’s Department of Commerce is organising charter coaches for local companies to attend international exhibitions in Hong Kong and will help solicit orders. It is expected that the physical participation of mainland exhibitors will prove of particular appeal to buyers and a real shot in the arm for Hong Kong’s convention and exhibition industry.

The Chairman of the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association, Stuart Bailey, however, sounded a cautious note. Noting that many exhibitors were still dragging their feet, resulting in sluggish booth sales, he called on all sectors to look to remedy manpower shortages in the exhibition industry and a number of related fields, including aviation, hospitality, venue management and project contracting.