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The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre has successfully hosted five concurrent trade shows organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council which brought together over 900 exhibitors and attracted more than 370,000 visitors.

Shows included the HKTDC Food Expo, HKTDC Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (Special Edition), HKTDC Hong Kong International Tea Fair, HKTDC Home Delights Expo and HKTDC Beauty & Wellness Expo, as well as the International Conference of the Modernization of Chinese Medicine and Health Products (ICMCM), jointly organised by the HKTDC and the Modernized Chinese Medicine International Association.

In addition to organising local buying missions, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) arranged nearly 200 virtual business matching meetings to enable global traders to stay connected and forge new deals.

Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, noted "the Food Expo and concurrent fairs welcomed more than 370,000 visitors, showing that people are willing to spend and keen to use their consumption vouchers even though food and beverage sampling was not allowed in the fairground due to the pandemic. We were also encouraged to see a number of group pavilions participating through their local representatives to grasp business opportunities, confirming Hong Kong as an important trading platform."

Purchases through e-payment become popular
The HKTDC interviewed more than 1,400 visitors during the shows through random sampling. A positive appetite for consumption was reported, with 44% of the respondents spending $175 (HK$1,000) or more and the average per capita spending reaching $222 (HK$1,273). With 85% of exhibitors at the shows accepting at least one consumption voucher payment method, the survey highlighted that nearly 80% of visitors made purchases at the shows using electronic payment methods, while more than half of the respondents used their consumption vouchers, highlighting the growing popularity of e-payment services.

The Hong Kong & Kowloon Provisions, Wine & Spirit Dealers' Association Limited (PWSA) and Nam Pak Hong Association set up a pavilion at the Food Expo for the first time, bringing about 20 food companies to promote their alcoholic beverages, canned foods, snacks, fruits and other food items. PWSA Director Michael Li advised "all our exhibitors adopted e-payment services to create a seamless shopping experience for customers. During the expo, around 80% of our sales were transacted through e-payment platforms. The Consumption Voucher Scheme has certainly helped to stimulate consumption and our sales result was better than expected. We plan to expand our participation at next year's expo."

Special temptations attract customers and boost sales
With great food and wine pairings in mind, some of the exhibitors at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (Special Edition) said that running the fair in conjunction with the Food Expo had boosted exhibitors' sales performance. John Lee, Director at Everrise International Trading Co Ltd and spokesperson for Wuliangye International (HK) Limited added "to engage more customers, we offered discount vouchers during the fair period which can be used when they make purchases at our stores at a later date. Our eye-catching booth also attracted many customers to visit. We expect our onsite sales turnover to reach $175,000 (HK$1 million)."

At the Home Delights Expo, exhibitor Bingo Leung, Customer Service Assistant at Smartech International Marketing Limited, Hong Kong, said the company's participation in the expo over the years had helped promote its brand and new products to consumers. This year, Smartech launched new promotion plans tailored to the Consumption Voucher Scheme. "We provided discount offers, free gifts and four e-payment methods to tempt consumers to use their consumption vouchers for purchases. Our bestsellers included handheld vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners and dehumidifiers. We are very satisfied with the results and expect the five-day expo to generate $87,500 (HK$500,000) in sales turnover."

Since the Beauty & Wellness Expo debuted in 2016, Beauty Sensation Co Ltd, Hong Kong has participated as an exhibitor every year. Marketing Director Kin Wong expressed strong confidence in the company's sales performance at this year's event. "The expo provides an effective platform to raise brand awareness and promote our Australian skincare products to both existing and new customers," he said. "Visitors were particularly interested in our organic skincare products this year and we expect our onsite sales turnover to exceed HK$1 million."

Global traders view Hong Kong as an important trading platform
Despite the ongoing travel restrictions, numerous group pavilions participated at the Food Expo through local representatives, including the Ministry of Agriculture Trade Promotion Centre, Shandong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing City from Mainland China which joined Japan, Korea and Poland to offer their food specialities to local shoppers. The Tea Fair also featured the Guizhou Pavilion to promote famous teas from the province.

Blanka Golebiowska, Deputy Consul-General at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Hong Kong, said the Food Expo had given them the chance to connect with local importers to explore further cooperation.

Golebiowska highlighted “The expo is a great place for us to promote Polish food products and test the market. We really appreciate the HKTDC's efforts in organising virtual business matching meetings to enable potential business development.”

For more comments from exhibitors and buyers, please click here.

Image: The Food Expo, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (Special Edition), Hong Kong International Tea Fair, Home Delights Expo and Beauty & Wellness Expo drew to a close today, attracting more than 370,000 visitors.

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