Same number of events, but fewer participants in Q1

Despite the number of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) events remaining the same year-on-year in the first quarter of this year (Q1), the overall number of participants and attendees decreased by 8.7%, according to information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Official statistics compiled by DSEC show that while the number of events remained the same as in 2025 (425), the number of participants dropped to 181,000.

DSEC remarked that exhibitions were mainly responsible for the drop, since meetings and conferences recorded an over 30% increase in the number of participants when compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, MICE-driven receipts for the non-gaming industries reportedly grew by 29.4% y-o-y to MOP 841 million in Q1, DSEC said, noting that an increase in the number of non-local participants and attendees drove this increase.

There were 399 meetings and conferences held in Q1 this year, a figure unchanged from the same quarter last year; the number of participants (49,000) rose by 33.3%.

The sub-category of “corporate meetings” recorded an increase of 11.6%, with the number of participants soaring by 75.1% to 29,000.

The number of exhibitions fell by one to 11, with 128,000 attendees (-20%). These exhibitions attracted 819 exhibitors and 11,173 professional visitors.

International exhibitors and professional visitors accounted for 9% and 3% of the respective totals, up by 2.5% and 1%.

The number of incentives also went slightly up to 15, one more than last year. Participants in these incentives increased by 273% to 3,435.