Feature

Trade Fair Industry in Asia Comments on the Positive Development of the MICE Industry in Macao

“The Trade Fair Industry in Asia – 14th Edition” issued by UFI, names Macao as the best-performing exhibition market in Asia for the past five years

The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) recently issued the “Trade Fair Industry in Asia–14^thEdition”, a document that profiles the development of the Asian MICE industry in 2017. Twenty-six B2B exhibitions that took place in Macao in 2017 were included in the UFI statistics. Reportedly, the exhibition industry recorded income of nearly US$54 million, and sales of net exhibition space increased by more than 50% compared to the figure from five years earlier.

As the leading global association for the exhibition industry, UFI gathers exhibition managers and professional exhibition organisers from around the world to promote the development of the regional and global exhibition industry segments. UFI annually engages professional consulting companies to study professional exhibitions (B2B events) for professional merchants in all parts of Asia, and accordingly issues the “Trade Fair Industry in Asia” report. This report serves as an important reference for international exhibition organisers and exhibition managers.

It was mentioned in the 14^th Edition of the Trade Fair Industry in Asia that Macao is one of the youngest and smallest MICE markets in Asia, but has achieved the most in the MICE market in Asia over the past five years. Net sales of exhibition space in Macao rose from 143,000 square metres in 2013 to 217,500 squares metres in 2017, representing an increase of approximately 52.1%, the highest growth in Asia. Meanwhile, each professional exhibition recorded an average revenue of approximately US$2.1 million, thus indicating that Macao’s MICE market surpassed the overall economic performance.

The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region is committed to promoting a moderately diverse economy. Accordingly, it will redouble its efforts to foster the development of the MICE industry. The motto “Conference First” will guide the development of the industry, promote the quality-based development and encourage more professional and international branded conferences and trade shows to come to Macao. The exhibition industry is an important part of the MICE industry. In recent years, with active co-operation and exchanges between the government and the MICE industry, the local exhibition brands have continued to develop. Seven local exhibition brands have been recognised by UFI, with industries covering areas such as commerce and trade, environmental protection, automobiles, yachts and aviation. Meanwhile, it will further spread the influence of the MICE industry and its development to surrounding industries and community-based merchants while promoting economic diversity and helping Macao increase its flexibility.

IPIM became a UFI member in October 2005, and since then it has actively participated in events organised by the association. This has empowered the institute to carry out exchanges with global exhibition organisations. Meanwhile, IPIM has launched the “One-stop Service” for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao as a means to provide support to exhibition organisers who are interested in activities in Macao and to attract more international exhibition organisers to host their events in Macao.