Slow start to Hong Kong’s first big trade show of 2023, with mainland Chinese vendors lamenting low turnout despite border reopening
- Participants from mainland China say turnout has dipped compared with pre-pandemic events, adding foreign clients called Asia trips ‘not cost-effective’
- But city’s Trade Development Council notes number of foreign exhibition attendees is gradually increasing following rollback of Covid-19 entry restrictions
Hong Kong’s first large-scale joint trade show since the easing of cross-border entry curbs got off to a slow start on Monday, with some exhibitors who travelled from mainland China lamenting the flagship event’s low turnout and limited business.
The four-day event at the Convention and Exhibition Centre also marked this year’s first round of shows from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, combining three product fairs into one mega showcase and bringing together more than 1,000 exhibitors from 17 locations to offer toys, games, baby products and stationery.
More than 250 exhibitors came from the mainland to take part in the toys and games fair alone, hoping to attract foreign buyers, including Lillian Wong, the sales manager of a company based in Jiangsu province that sells rocking horses.
While describing the fair as a good starting point toward post-pandemic economic recovery, Wong said she remained cautious about sales figures as some European and American clients had told her they would not attend this year’s event.
“They said that planning a trip to Asia is not cost-effective. There are not a lot of flights and it is too expensive. They would rather we fly over to the West and attend exhibitions there,” she added.
“Our company signed up last October even though we might need to quarantine when we return. We haven’t had an in-person fair in three years. It’s so much better if buyers can see and test the real product. This fair in Hong Kong is a must-come for us.”
She also noted visitor numbers for the event had taken a huge dip compared to the previous in-person showcase in January 2020, which occurred amid the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Turnout for the mega event on Monday morning comprised a few hundred buyers from countries such as Turkey, India and Malaysia, who browsed the latest wares from exhibitors as staff handed out product brochures.
Jackson Lam, the general manager of a toy retailer based in Guangdong province, agreed the event was much quieter than in previous years.
“In the past, it was more bustling, but this year we haven’t seen a lot of international guests, which are our target audience. Maybe it takes time for people to come back to Hong Kong for business,” he said.
Distributor Oguz Karahan, who was browsing prams and playpens to sell back in Turkey, said his team had been looking forward to the fair since deciding to attend two months ago, despite Hong Kong retaining some Covid-19 restrictions at the time.
“It’s my first time at the fair and in Hong Kong, and I also met many of our fellow distributors from Istanbul here, everyone is here to check out suppliers from mainland China,” he said.
Hellen Tang Xu, manager of a company selling children’s ride-on buggies, said the border reopening had made it easier to bring in Shenzhen-based staff “to take part in exhibitions here”.
Speaking to local media, Sophia Chong Suk-fan, the council’s deputy executive director, said the number of foreign exhibitors had slowly increased since Hong Kong started rolling back entry curbs in September.
More than half of participants at recent trade fairs were foreigners compared with just 10 per cent of those who joined the International ICT expo last October, she added.
This year would also feature no less than 30 medium to large-scale events, including an international jewellery showcase in March that had already received over 2,000 applications from prospective exhibitors, Chong said.
“Over half of the applicants for the jewellery show are from overseas, a third of which are from the mainland,” she noted.
“As the border has just reopened, things will not bounce back immediately but we think the industry will pick up faster in 2023.”
Bernard Chan Pak-li, acting commerce and economic development secretary, said a preparation period of at least six months was needed for such events and expected more mainlanders would attend and take part in the rest of this year’s exhibitions.
Authorities also intended to provide HK$1.4 billion (US$179 million) in support for the conventions and exhibitions industry from July to help speed up recovery, he said, calling the return of quarantine-free travel and the subsiding pandemic a “perfect time for visitors, businesses and event organisers to come back to Hong Kong”.
On the same day, Stephen Phillips, the head of the city’s investment promotion arm, InvestHK, embarked on his week-long visit to Indonesia and Singapore to tout Hong Kong as an attractive business destination, as well as opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.
