Hong Kong's exhibition industry made direct and indirect contributions to the economy worth HK$26.4 billion last year, according to a new study commissioned by several government-funded industry groups.
Direct personal expenditure by exhibition attendees amounted to HK$8.2 billion during the year, with more than 80 per cent of receipts going to food and beverages, retailers and hotels.
Business-related spending by organisers and exhibitors totalled HK$5 billion.
The survey, released yesterday, was funded by AsiaWorld-Expo, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC).
Hong Kong's booming market for conventions, trade shows and corporate meetings is bracing for the arrival of new competition from privately developed casino-resorts in Macau, such as the US$2.4 billion Venetian complex that opens this month, as well as expanding government-funded facilities in Pearl River Delta exhibition hubs such as Guangzhou.
The new study found that direct and indirect spending in Hong Kong's exhibition industry rose 39 per cent last year from 2004, when a similar survey was conducted. This reflects an annual growth rate of 18 per cent.