Macau’s MICE industry has returned mixed results in 2017 with latest figures from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showing a 26.1% increase in meetings and conference participants during the second quarter and a 61.9% rise for the first six months of the year. But exhibition attendance is down 14% for the quarter and 0.7% for the six months to 30 June.
A total of 333 MICE events were held in 2Q17, including 308 meetings and conferences, 11 exhibitions and 14 incentives, with the total number of participants and attendees reaching 405,000.
The number of meetings and conferences held in the second quarter increased by 16 year-on-year, with the number of participants rising by 26.1% to 45,000. Meetings and conferences with 200 participants or more rose by three to 54, with the number of participants up 36.9% to 32,000. Meetings and conferences lasting four hours or more increased by 11 year-on-year to 195, with participation growing 38.4% to 36,000.
The number of exhibitions held in the second quarter decreased from 18 in 2Q16 to 11 this time around, bringing the number of attendees down 14.0% to 351,000. Among the exhibitions, 10 were organized by non-government organizations, with the number of attendees dropping 15.0% year-on-year to 342,000.
Receipts of the 11 exhibitions totaled MOP$77.51 million, with rental receipts of exhibition booths accounting for 74.5%. Expenditure totaled MOP$56.39 million, mainly incurred on production, construction and decoration (29.6%), rental paid for the venue (17.4%) and publicity and public relations (15.9%).
Exhibitions in the second quarter attracted 1,140 exhibitors, with 28.7% coming from mainland China and 28.1% from Macau. Professional visitors totaled 22,000, with those from Macau making up 36.4%. The exhibitions organized by non-government organizations drew 684 exhibitors (35.8% from Hong Kong) and 15,000 professional visitors (34.5% from Macau).
In the first half of 2017, a total of 699 MICE events were held with the total number of participants and attendees at 627,000. The number of meetings and conferences increased by 66 year-on-year to 652, while the number of participants surged by 61.9% to 99,000.
The number of exhibitions decreased by four year-on-year to 18, bringing the number of attendees (514,000) down slightly by 0.7%.
