Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 147 MICE events were held in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 79 quarter-to-quarter; number of participants & attendees surged by 130.6% to 318,000. Moreover, the figures for MICE events and participants & attendees showed notable year-on-year rise of 106 and 1,376.7% respectively, attributable to the relatively low base of comparison in the same quarter of 2020 as number of MICE events decreased sharply at the onset of the pandemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia.
There were 128 meetings & conferences in the second quarter, an uplift of 89 year-on-year; number of participants leapt by 696.9% to 16,000. Meetings & conferences with a duration of 4 hours or more totalled 67, with 12,000 participants. The average duration of the meetings & conferences extended by 0.3 day year-on-year to 1.0 day, and the total floor area used expanded by 446.2% to 81,000 m². Furthermore, 4 incentives were held in the second quarter with 1,563 participants. The average duration of these incentives was 3.1 days and the total floor area used reached 23,000 m².
Number of exhibitions in the second quarter rose by 13 year-on-year to 15, all of which were organised by non-government organisations. Number of attendees boosted by 1,440.1% year-on-year to 301,000. The average duration of the exhibitions went up by 0.3 day year-on-year to 3.3 days, and the total floor area used surged by 447.5% to 33,000m². According to the information on the 15 exhibitions provided by the organisers, total receipts amounted to MOP9.88 million, of which 82.5% were generated from rental of exhibition booths and 16.9% were financial support from government/organisations. Expenditure of these exhibitions added up to MOP9.77 million, with installation of booths, decoration & audio-visual performance, etc. and publicity & public relations accounting for 36.9% and 26.3% of the total respectively. These exhibitions recorded a loss of MOP1.56 million in receipts after the deduction of expenditure and financial support from government/organisations.
The exhibitions in the second quarter attracted 778 exhibitors and 124 professional visitors, with locals comprising 87.9% and 97.6% of the respective total. In accordance with the information collected from 422 interviewed exhibitors, 94.3% of their receipts were generated from sales of goods, whereas their expenditure was mainly incurred on rental paid for exhibition booths (66.4% of total) and booth installation & decoration (17.8%). Regarding comments from the interviewed exhibitors, their satisfaction towards various facilities and services increased compared to the first quarter. Among the exhibitors who had used services rendered by local companies, the proportions of those who were satisfied with the services (92.7%) and arrangements (92.7%) of the companies both edged up by 0.1 percentage point quarter-to-quarter. The shares of exhibitors who complimented on the efficiency & attitude (88.1%) and language skills (86.9%) of the venue staff grew by 7.5 percentage points and 5.0 percentage points quarter-to-quarter respectively.
In the first half year of 2021, a total of 215 MICE events were held, an increase of 52 year-on-year; total number of participants & attendees jumped by 347.7% to 457,000. Meetings & conferences (189) and exhibitions (22) went up by 33 and 17 year-on-year respectively, with the respective number of participants (23,000) and attendees (432,000) rising by 20.7% and 424.4%. According to the information on the 22 exhibitions in the first half year, their receipts and expenditure amounted to MOP16.10 million and MOP14.54 million respectively. These exhibitions showed a loss of MOP0.99 million in receipts after the deduction of expenditure and financial support from government/organisations.