At the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association’s (HKECIA) annual conference, 1 June, Stuart Bailey, chairman of HKECIA, continued to push the government for the easing of Covid-19 restrictions
Bailey commented: “There is a huge appetite for large-scale international events to resume but we need to have a plan, with reasonable certainty, that shows the international business community they can travel without restriction or disruption.
“Almost every other city in the region has already done away with mandatory quarantine periods, while Hong Kong, which now has achieved high immunity rates through vaccination and natural immunity, is still effectively isolated. We will continue to join other business associations and chambers of commerce to lobby the HKSAR government to lift these travel barriers.”
The conference welcomed over 130 participants in-person at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Topics at the event included an update on the global tourism market outlook, HKTB’s strategy for the convention and exhibition industry, and plans for tourism recovery.
George Leung, CEO of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, commented on the exhibition industry’s opportunity to ‘tap into’ the Greater Bay Area, under the Mainland’s National 14th Five-Year Plan.
A highlight topic of the conference was the panel discussion among venue operators, event organisers and contractors about the journey to sustainable exhibitions in Hong Kong.
The HKECIA also hosted its Annual General Meeting, where members voted to rename the ‘Operations Subcommittee’ to become the ‘Sustainability and Operations Subcommittee’. The sub-committee will be tasked with identifying and measuring initiatives which target the reduction of waste and the reusing of materials in stand construction.
At the AGM, members also voted on its committee for 2022-2024:
1. | Bailey Communications Hong Kong Limited (Mr Stuart Bailey) | Chairman |
2. | Global Sources (Ms Wendy Lai) | Executive vice-chairman |
3. | AMC (Exhibits) Ltd (Mr Adolph Chan) | Vice-chairman |
4. | Comasia Ltd ( Mr Peter Cheung) | Vice-chairman |
5. | Coastal International Exhibition Co Ltd (Ms Brenda Yau) | Hon. secretary |
6. | Informa Markets (Mr David Bondi) | Hon. treasurer |
7. | Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd (Ms Rita Chu) | Executive committee member |
8. | AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited (Ms Enid Low) | Executive committee member |
9. | Baobab Tree Event Management Co Ltd (Ms Culsin Li) | Executive committee member |
10. | Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (Ms Juanita Leung) | Executive committee member |
11. | CP Exhibition Ltd (Mr Andrew Kay) | Executive committee member |
12. | EnviroEvents (ReThink) Limited (Mr Chris Brown) | Executive committee member |
13. | Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited
(Ms Monica Lee- Müller) |
Executive committee member |
14. | Hong Kong Tourism Board (Mr Kenneth Wong) | Executive committee member |
15. | Hong Kong Trade Development Council (Mr Stephen Liang) | Executive committee member |
16. | Milton Exhibits Group (Mr Peter Jung) | Executive committee member |
17. | Pico International (HK) Ltd (Ms Anne Li) | Executive committee member |
18. | TKS Exhibition Services Ltd (Mr KS Tong) | Executive committee member |
19. | Ungerboeck Systems International (Ms. Janice Chan) | Executive committee member |