MICE industry attracts 580,000 attendees in third quarter

According to the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), a total of 304 MICE events were held in the third quarter of 2017, comprising 279 meetings and conferences, 15 exhibitions and 10 incentives, which collectively brought in some 581,000 participants and attendees.

The number of meetings and conferences held in the third quarter increased by 22 year-on-year and the number of participants rose by 33.9 percent to 60,000. The growth was driven by an increase in the number of large-scale meetings and conferences, which saw its corresponding participants soar by more than 45 percent. The average duration of meetings and conferences increased by 0.1 days year-on-year to 1.5 days.

The number of exhibitions held in the third quarter decreased by two year-on-year to 15, bringing the number of attendees down by 12.9 percent to 503,000. Among the exhibitions, 11 were organized by non-government organizations, with the number of attendees dropping by 16.9 percent year-on-year to 354,000.

Meanwhile, the number of incentives increased by seven year-on-year to 10, with number of participants (18,000) soaring by 220 percent.

In accordance with information provided by exhibition organizers, the revenue of the 15 exhibitions expanded by about 100 percent year-on-year to MOP24.71 million. Expenditure rose by 19.5 percent year-on- year to MOP52.65 million, which was mainly spent on production, construction and decoration (24.6 percent), and publicity and public relations (17.5 percent).

Information from the 355 exhibitors interviewed in the third quarter indicated that 89.6 percent of their revenue was generated from the sale of products, while rent paid for exhibition booths accounted for 65.4 percent of their expenditure.

Regarding comments from the exhibitors, 83.8 percent of the interviewed exhibitors who had used services rendered by local companies were satisfied with their services, the highest rating across all aspects. However, only 63.6 percent were satisfied with the promotion of the exhibition, the lowest rating among all aspects.

In the first three quarters of 2017, slightly over 1,000 MICE events were held with the total number of participants and attendees numbering 1.2 million. Information collected from organizers showed that the revenue and expenditure of private exhibitions this year amounted to MOP108 million (an increase of 28.5 percent) and MOP115 (a decrease of 2.5 percent) respectively, while revenue for public sector exhibitions was MOP104 million and no information was disclosed on expenditure.