Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 371MICE events were held in the fourth quarter of 2016, consisting of 352 meetings & conferences, 16 exhibitions and 3 incentive events. Total number of participants and attendees was 490,000. For the whole year of 2016, a total of 1,276 MICE events were held, comprising 1,195 meetings & conferences, 55 exhibitions and 26 incentive events. Total number of participants and attendees was 1,722,000.
Number of meetings & conferences held in the fourth quarter increased by 16year-on-year, with number of participants rising by 70.6% to 70,000. Those meetings & conferences with 200 participants or more increased by 14 to 73, and number of participants surged by 103.9% to 54,000 (76.9% of total). Meanwhile, meetings & conferences of 4 hours or more increased by 39 year-on-year to 252 (71.6% of total), and number of participants soared by 121.2% to 55,000; the average duration of these meetings & conferences was 2.0 days, up by 0.1 day year-on-year. The overall average duration of the meetings & conferences was 1.6 days, up by 0.2 day.
There were 16 exhibitions held in the fourth quarter, down by 7 year-on-year; number of attendees decreased by 48.4% to 405,000, with the 15 exhibitions organised by non-government organisations attracting 351,000 attendees. The average duration of the exhibitions was 3.2 days, down by 0.2 day year-on-year, and total floor area used dropped by 16.0% to 155,000 m2. Furthermore, 3 incentive events were held, drawing 14,000 participants; the average duration of the events was 2.3 days and total floor area used was 172,000 m2.
In accordance with information collected from the organisers of 15 exhibitions in the fourth quarter, receipts of these exhibitions amounted to MOP 74.53 million; expenditure totalled MOP 102 million, which was mainly incurred on production, construction & decoration (28.7%), publicity & public relations (14.4%) and rental paid for venue (12.9%). Meanwhile, receipts of the 14 exhibitions organised by non-government organisations amounted to MOP 72.09 million, of which financial support from government or other organisations totalled MOP 56.64 million, a decrease of more than 30.0% year-on-year. Expenditure of these exhibitions totalled MOP 74.44 million, of which production, construction & decoration accounted for 29.4%. The 15 exhibitions together attracted 1,615 exhibitors, with 23.9% coming from Mainland China and 39.5% from Macao; professional visitors totalled 34,000, with those from Macao predominating at 41.6%, followed by Mainland China at 26.1%. As for the exhibitions organised by non-government organisations, number of exhibitors (869) and professional visitors (31,000) mainly came from Macao, constituting 42.0% and 41.1% of the respective total.
Information from 396 interviewed exhibitors in the fourth quarter indicated that 98.9% of their receipts were generated from sales of products, while rental paid for exhibition booth accounted for 49.2% of their expenditure. Regarding comments about the MICE venue and services, over 80.0% of the interviewed exhibitors were satisfied with the work efficiency & attitude (81.0%), professionalism (80.5%) and language skills (80.3%) of the venue staff. A relatively low proportion of exhibitors were satisfied with the promotion of the exhibition (56.7%), yet showing an increase of 5.9 percentage points over the previous quarter, while 12.2% considered that improvement was needed, down by 12.0 percentage points. Among the interviewed exhibitors that had used services rendered by local companies, the proportions of those who were satisfied with the services (73.9%) and arrangements (68.5%) of the companies dropped by 10.8 and 15.7 percentage points respectively quarter-to-quarter.
For the whole year of 2016, number of meetings & conferences increasedby 32 year-on-year, and total number of participants rose by 49.2% to 176,000. Those meetings & conferences with 200 participants or more went up by 43 to 197, with number of participants surging by 93.5% to 123,000. Meetings & conferences of 4 hours or more decreased by 23 to 788, yet number of participants increased by 57.9% to 132,000. The overall average duration of the meetings & conferences was 1.5 days, down by 0.1 day year-on-year. On the other hand, number of exhibitions decreased by 23 year-on-year, bringing the number of attendees (1,500,000) and total floor area used (309,000 m2) down by 37.3% and 21.8% respectively. There were 49 exhibitions organised by non-government organisations, down by 25 year-on-year, with number of attendees falling by 40.0% to 1,289,000; among them, number of exhibitions with 20,000 attendees or more (23) decreased by 15 and number of attendees (1,141,000) dropped by 37.7%. Moreover, number of incentive events totalled 26, drawing 45,000 participants.
In accordance with information collected from the organisers of 54 exhibitions for the whole year of 2016, receipts of these exhibitions amounted to MOP 159 million, with rental of exhibition booths accounting for 55.4% of the total. Expenditure of the exhibitions totalled MOP 220 million, which was mainly incurred on production, construction & decoration (27.7% of total) and publicity & public relations (19.0%). The net amount generated from the 48 exhibitions organised by non-government organisations by deducting the expenditure (MOP 135 million, excluding operating expenses of the organisations) from the receipts (MOP 153 million) was MOP 17.58 million, an improvement from the MOP 1.85 million deficit in 2015.
The 54 exhibitions together attracted 4,787 exhibitors in 2016, with 25.8% coming from Mainland China and 36.7% from Macao. Professional visitors totalled 99,000, coming primarily from Mainland China (21.0% of total) and Macao (54.6%). Exhibitors (2,868) attending exhibitions organised by non-government organisations mainly came from Macao (39.3% of total) and Hong Kong (25.0%); professional visitors totalled 90,000 and 55.4% were from Macao. Information from 1,400 interviewed exhibitors in 2016 indicated that 97.5% of their receipts were generated from sales of products, while rental paid for exhibition booth accounted for 56.2% of their expenditure.