The value of the Meetings, Events, Conferences and Exhibitions industry in the neighbouring SAR is expected to reach more than US$2.5 billion (MOP20 billion) by the end of 2021, with Macau representing one of the major source markets for the industry, according to the recent Hong Kong MICE Tourism Market – Trips & Spending to 2021 report.
Hong Kong’s MICE market is expected to continue growing, despite suffering a year-on-year contraction in overnight visitation of 5.2 per cent in 2015 (according to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board) as initiatives such as the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which both Hong Kong and Macau have with the Mainland, and visa initiatives allow for increases in trade, services and movement within the Pearl River Delta.
Recent infrastructure changes, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, has improveh circulation between the primary clients of the HKSAR’s MICE industry, of which, according to full-2015 data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, nearly 52 per cent originate from the Mainland.
Can we compete?
According to the Hong Kong MICE Tourism Market – Trips & Spending to 2021 report, ‘MICE organisers have been attracted by the growth of the Mainland economy and favourable exchange rates, with the greatest increase coming from those visiting from short-haul markets – particularly Mainland China.’
The MSAR can capitalise on these markets but only once infrastructure catches up.
Bruno Simōes, Secretary of the Macau Meetings Incentives and Special Events Association, notes that the infrastructure changes – such as the new bridge – increase access to Macau, given the scale of the Macau International Airport when compared with that of Hong Kong.
“At the moment, we are a few hours away from the airport and that scares (off) a lot of organisers,” says Simōes.
“In Macau we have fantastic infrastructure – hotel infrastructure – unique in Asia but we don’t have the transportation or an airport infrastructure at the same level. And the bridge will connect these two infrastructures.”
Whether the growth in the neighbouring SAR can guarantee growth in Macau depends upon the levels of competition, notes Simōes, but “if Hong Kong is going to grow, most probably Macau is going to grow.”
In 2015, Macau only contributed 0.6 per cent of overnight MICE visitor arrivals to the neighbouring SAR, according to data, amounting to slightly more than 10,500 individuals, with the number of individuals increasing 32.7 per cent year-on-year despite Hong Kong’s overall overnight visitor numbers suffering a 4 per cent fall in the same period. Of eight countries and regions acting as source markets for the HKSAR, Macau was the only one to register positive year-on-year growth for the sector.
According to the most recent data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) in the third quarter alone the total number of MICE events in the city reached 257, welcoming over 628,000 participants.
