Exhibitors at the annual Book Fair accused organisers of overreacting to Typhoon Vicente in shutting down the fair early and costing them a lot of money.
At 3.45pm yesterday the Observatory said it would hoist the No 8 storm signal in two hours. The Trade Development Council, which runs the fair, reacted by saying that the fair would shut down within two hours, cutting off ticket sales and any admissions.
About 10 small and medium-sized publishers reacted angrily, saying the council had earlier promised that the fair would close only after the No 8 signal had been hoisted for two hours.
'They [the council] are liars, because the [No 8] signal was not officially issued, yet people were stopped from entering the fair,' said Jimmy Pang Chi-ming, owner of publishing house Sub-Culture.
Pang said the poor arrangement seriously affected attendance, costing his firm a loss of up to 60 per cent of the day's expected revenue.
Carmen Kwong Wing-suen, editor-in-chief of Up Publications, said it was already offering steep discounts to encourage sales. But the early closing, before the peak evening hour for visitors, would cost it up to HK$100,000.