Exhibitions record a MOP38.62 million deficit in 2017

A total of 1,381 MICE events were held in Macau during 2017, up by 105 year-on-year. According to information released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the number of participants and attendees increased by 10.4 percent to 1,901,000.

The number of meetings and conferences held in Macau in 2017 was 1,285 (+90), with a 39 percent increase in the number of participants (+245,000). The number of exhibitions decreased by 4 year- on-year to 51, while the number of attendees rose by 7.2 percent to 1,608,000.

According to information collected from the 51 exhibition organizers, after deducting the expenditure and financial support from government and other organizations (MOP71.85 million) from the receipts, these exhibitions recorded a deficit of MOP38.62 million. In 2016, the deficit stood at MOP48.05 million.

The exhibitions held in 2017 attracted 5,533 exhibitors, with 28.6 percent (1,582) of them coming from mainland China and 35.9 percent (1,989) from Macau. There were 99,000 professional visitors and those coming from Macau (53,000) made up the largest component at 53.3 percent.

Regarding the fourth quarter of 2017, a total of 378 MICE events were held, including 354 meetings and conferences, 18 exhibitions and six incentives. The total number of participants and attendees was 694,000.

The number of meetings and conferences held in the fourth quarter went up by 2, year-on-year, and the number of participants rose by 23.8 percent to 86,000.

The number of exhibitions held in the fourth quarter increased by 2, year-on-year, to 18, and number of attendees surged by 45.8 percent to 591,000, according to DSEC.

According to information provided by the exhibition organizers in the fourth quarter, receipts and expenditure of the 18 exhibitions amounted to MOP76.73 million and MOP114 million respectively. The receipts were primarily generated from financial support provided by the government and other organizations (75.3 percent of the total) while the expenditure was mainly incurred on production, construction and decoration (27.1 percent of the total).