Bangkok--15 Aug--Francom Asia
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that overnight MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) arrivals to Hong Kong reached 725,779 in the first six months of 2011, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%.
Of all overnight MICE arrivals to Hong Kong within this period, 42.8% or over 310,000 arrivals came from Mainland China, a 15%-increase compared to the same period last year. Such rising trend can be attributed to the continuous growth of the Mainland economy, which has boosted demands by corporations in the market for meetings and incentive travel. Meanwhile, South and Southeast Asia, also with outstanding performance in the areas of corporate meetings and incentive travel, recorded an 11%-increase in MICE arrivals during the first half of the year.
Between January and June 2011, numerous large-scale conventions and exhibitions with record-breaking numbers of participants were held, helping to drive the growth of overall MICE arrivals. Among these events were the medical conference CardioRhythm 2011, education forum Going Global 2011 by the British Council, the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress 2011, as well as ARTHK 2011, which attracted a great number of visitors from different long-haul and short-haul markets, as well as first-time exhibitors in Hong Kong. In particular, the Combined Scientific Meeting co-organised by the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, Faculty of Pain Medicine brought over many industry professionals from Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific. This contributed to the 17.8%-increase in overnight MICE arrivals from the market region.
HKTB Executive Director Mr Anthony Lau said: “We foresee that overnight MICE arrivals will continue to grow in the second half of this year. One of the factors to foster this upward trend is the staging of some large-scale conventions and exhibitions, including the 2011 Asian Seafood Exposition and the SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia, which are expected to draw several thousand participants. In addition, sustained growth of the Mainland economy and exchange rates favourable to major currencies against the Hong Kong dollar are going to bring more meetings and incentive travel activities to Hong Kong, especially from the Mainland and other short-haul markets. Through various channels, the MEHK (Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong) Office of the HKTB will continue actively attracting more MICE events and activities to the city and providing customised support to event organisers.”
The table below summarises overnight MICE visitor arrivals to Hong Kong from January to June 2011:
Market Regions Overnight MICE % change (Vs. 2010)
visitor arrivals
The Americas 73,105 +0.9%
Europe, Africa and 90,802 +5.3%
the Middle East
Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific 27,496 +17.8%
North Asia 64,845 +0.3%
South and Southeast Asia 116,788 +11.0%
Taiwan 35,085 +3.1%
Mainland China 310,913 +15.3%
Total* 725,779 +10.3%
*Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Wandee Lerdsupongkit - HKTB Press Information Center
Tel. 02233 4329/30 Fax 02236 8030 Email:
[email protected]