78th UFI Congress concludes in Valencia

News this week: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, recently concluded the 78^th UFI Congress in Valencia, Spain. Over 400 delegates from 52 countries and regions attended the three-day congress, a new record for an UFI Congress held in Europe.

This year’s congress, titled “Bridging Continents – Linking People”, was hosted at the Feria Valencia. The two-day speaker programme was moderated by Hakan Gershagen this year, senior advisor and board member at Belgian trade show organiser EasyFairs. New UFI president, Arie Brienen, remarked at the congress that his priorities for 2012 will be to maximize membership networking opportunities and to strengthen efforts in promoting the “power of exhibitions.”

Along with themed speakers topics and panel discussions, this edition of UFI’s Congress also included special interest sessions for delegates focusing on large venue issues and privately owned exhibition businesses.

Full programme details can be found here.

The UFI press release covering the congress is here.

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Hong Kong’s exhibition industry contributes US$4.6 billion to economy

News this week: The Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) reported results of its biennial economic impact study report.

Compiled by KPMG Transaction Advisory Services, the report shows Hong Kong’s exhibition industry contributed US$4.6 billion towards the local economy in 2010, compared with US$3.9 billion in 2008, or equivalent to 2.1% of Hong Kong’s total GDP.

In terms of expenditure by exhibition visitors, US$1.3 billion was recorded in 2010, with 90% contributed by international visitors. The food and beverage, retail and hotel sectors were reportedly the largest recipients of direct visitor expenditure, accounting for more than 74%, or US$936 million. Business-related expenditure amounted to US$1.04 billion in 2010, a compound annual growth rate of 22% from 2008.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

1,780 exhibitors attend Cosmoprof Asia

News this week: Earlier this month, beauty trade show Cosmoprof Asia concluded with a show record of 68,000 m² of exhibition space, an 18% increase from the 2010 edition. Organised by UBM Asia, the three-day trade show ran from 9^th to 11^th November and was hosted at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

UBM reported the turnout of 1,780 exhibitors from 42 different countries and regions, up 9% over last year. Of this total, 477 were first-time exhibitors at Cosmoprof Asia, which made up 27% of overall exhibitors.

Total visitors amounted to more than 48,500 attendees. International visitors in particular reached nearly 30,000, an increase of 14% over 2010. The countries that saw the most increase in visitor numbers include Australia, Brazil, mainland China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Middle East, Russia, Turkey and the U.S.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

HC International records profit

News this week: Hong Kong-listed HC International has released its results for the nine months ended 30^th September 2011. Revenues were US$48 million, an increase of 35% compared with the same period of 2010. Net profit in the period was US$2.5 million, compared with a loss of US$292,000 in the first nine months in 2010.

The Beijing-based B2B publisher noted that about 64% of its revenues (US$31 million) were generated from its online services business segment, which grew 71% over the first nine months in 2010. The second largest business segment is the seminars and other services, which generated about 19% of its revenues (US$8.97 million) and increased 23% year-on-year. The remaining revenues were generated from the trade catalogues and yellow page directories business segment.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.