 Hong Kong's strategic location, together with its vibrant
cosmopolitan lifestyle, newly added and more sophisticated
infrastructure, world class hospitality and superb professional
services, have made the city an ideal location for meetings,
incentives, conventions, and events (MICE).
According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board's (HKTB) Executive
Director Mr Anthony Lau, more than 1,300 MICE events, including
some of the world's largest, are held in Hong Kong every year,
bringing in 1.7 million visitors and HK$11 billion in tourism
revenue.
New tourism proposals announced by the Government are set to
fill Hong Kong's already busy calendar with even more arts,
cultural and sports events. The recently announced allocation of
HK$100 million will motivate overseas MICE organizers to stage
international or regional events. In this December, Hong Kong
will host the 2009 East Asian Games, a mega event attracting
more than 3,000 of the region's finest athletes.
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) has
completed its HK$1.4 billion expansion, bringing the centre's
exhibition space to 83,000 square metres. In the next 12 months,
about 30 existing exhibitions will occupy a portion of all of
the newly expanded space, including the Electronics Fair, and
the Jewellery & Gem Fair, etc. in the autumn.
"With the largest exhibition space in Hong Kong and Macau, and
being located in the centre of Hong Kong, I am confident that
HKCEC will continue to serve as one of the most prestigious and
successful exhibition venues within Asia," said Mr Cliff
Wallace, HKCEC Managing Director.
As Hong Kong moves into a new era as a pan-PRD multi-modal hub,
AsiaWorld-Expo is reminding the world that, when it comes to
business, Hong Kong is indisputably the right place at the right
time, while it is emerging as a key player in the development of
Lantau as a business and commercial centre of the future Pearl
River Delta (PRD) Metropolis.
This visionary view of Lantau's development is set out in the
"Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl
River Delta" announced by the Central Chinese Government earlier
this year.
Opened in late 2005, the world-class AsiaWorld-Expo next to the
Hong Kong International Airport in Check Lap Kok offers more
than 70,000 square metres of exhibition space, including 10
column-free exhibition halls, and a 13,500 seating capacity
entertainment arena. Its AsiaWorld-Summit is Hong Kong's newest
and largest indoor conference and banqueting venue. It meets the
needs of business and social events from 700 to 5,000 people.
 AsiaWorld-Expo has hosted an extraordinary range of major
international trade exhibitions, including ITU TELECOM WORLD
2006, Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress, and the
world-renowned China Sourcing Fairs.
In September, Asian Aerospace will once again be mounted at the
AsiaWorld-Arena. Global aerospace leaders including Airbus,
Boeing, Bombardier, CFM International, Goodrich, Lufthansa
Technik and SR Technics are expected to stage large exhibitions.
The event is the world's largest single-focused exhibition and
congress for the commercial aerospace and civil aviation market.
Organizers of these and other key MICE events are reaping the
benefits of Hong Kong's superb convention and exhibition
facilities, as well as the city's excellent hotels, restaurants
and appealing tourism opportunities to attract a consistently
high number of participants.
"Our close, collaborative relationships with many nearby leisure
destinations and hotel facilities, such as Hong Kong Disneyland
Resort and Ngong Ping 360, also ensures an event experience that
is unique in Asia," said Mr Allen Ha, Chief Executive Office of
AsiaWorld-Expo. |
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