BOOMING MICE

2014/11/26

From：Macau Business Daily

It could be a game-changer. MICE sector revenues almost doubled in the first nine months of the year. And grew 82 percent in Q3. Expositions, fairs and congresses are generating more money per visitor than ever.

The latest data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows that 240 MICE events were held in the third quarter of the year, an increase of only 14 events compared to the same period last year. Receipts from the exhibitions held in the period, however, surged 81 per cent year-on-year in the quarter, while the accumulative receipts from exhibitions soared by 94 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months.
During the third quarter, the total number of participants and attendees of these MICE events reached 724,800, up 16 per cent compared to the same period of last year. Some 214 of the total events – nearly 90 per cent – were meetings, which nevertheless only attracted some 4 per cent of total participants and attendees. The other 96 per cent – 695,456 individuals – joined the 26 exhibitions instead.
Receipts and expenditure by exhibitions soars
According to DSEC, which interviewed 24 exhibition organisers, a total of 1,429 exhibitors participated in the exhibitions during the third quarter. Receipts from these exhibitions exceeded MOP37 million (US$4.6 million) in the quarter, up 81 per cent compared to MOP21 million in receipts during the same period last year.
The increase in expenditure was not low either, posting a jump of 41 per cent year-on-year in the quarter, reaching MOP37.3 million patacas.
Some 243 of these 1429 exhibitors indicated that sales of products accounted for 82% of receipts, while rental paid for exhibition booths shared 84% of expenditure, according to DSEC.
In addition, professional visitors attending exhibitions in the quarter totalled 39,632, of whom 64 per cent were from Macau while some 20 per cent were form Hong Kong.
On the other hand, in the first three quarters of the year the accumulative receipts of these exhibitions achieved more than MOP125 million, surging 94 per cent year-on-year, while the accumulative expenditure in these nine months reached some MOP146 million patacas, up 46 per cent year-on-year.
The total number of MICE events during these nine months was 743, up by 59 events year-on-year. The total number of participants increased by some 48 per cent year-on-year, reaching in excess of 1.5 million.
Of the 214 meetings held in the third quarter, 108 comprised corporate meetings, accounting for the biggest part of the total. In addition, 56 association meetings were held. Government meetings and conferences organized a total of 52 events, 26 each.
Meanwhile, more than 50 per cent – 121 – of the MICE events in the third quarter were related to commerce, trade and management, with 31 dedicated to medical and health. In addition, events related to banking & finance plus IT & other technology accounted for 23 and 24 of the total, respectively.

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