Event organisers need high levels of organisational skills and an eye for detail to succeed in the sector
Hong Kong's position as a prime exhibition hub for trade will probably strengthen when the expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is completed early next year.
As a key international trading centre, where mainland manufacturers re-export their products and where foreign companies source goods at low prices, Hong Kong has long been an ideal place for business-to-business trade exhibitions.
According to Kate Newman, head of corporate communications for Asia-Pacific at Messe Frankfurt, an international trade fair organiser, Hong Kong has excellent infrastructure and advanced facilities which provide international buyers and trade fair visitors easy access to a growing number of trade exhibitions in the city.
According to Hong Kong Trade Development Council statistics, Hong Kong hosted 97 major exhibitions at its facilities in HKCEC last year, an increase of more than 10 per cent from 2006, and there will be new additions next year including Asia Funeral Expo and Retail Asia Expo.
With other places in Asia - notably Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and major cities in the mainland - building and fast expanding their exhibition facilities in recent years, Hong Kong's exhibition industry needs to compete in terms of exhibition space and talent and service levels.
Industry sources believe that the expansion work at HKCEC will add 19,400 square metres of exhibition space and create several hundred new jobs in its first year of operation.