The importance
of international conferences to visitor economies has been laid bare in new
figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), which show a post-pandemic
rebound.
Hong Kong
received about 10 million overnight visitors between January and June this year,
with those staying for a meeting, exhibition, or incentive numbering around
700,000,
This was about
80 per cent of the level recorded in the same period of 2018, making meetings and
events (MICE), the fastest recovering visitor segment in Hong Kong.
Each
overnight MICE visitor spent an average of HK$8,000 in town, according to HKTB,
which was about 20–30 per cent higher than the average per-capita spending of
all inbound travellers.
And MICE
visitors are longer stayers, staying 3.7 nights on average last year, compared
to the average of 3.2 nights for all overnight visitors. MICE tourism helped
attract more international tourists too, evident by the fact that half of the
overnight MICE visitors came from international markets, compared to 25 per
cent of all overnight visitors.
HKTB has helped
secure over 60 large-scale international MICE events for Hong Kong slated for
between 2024 and 2026, many of these are first time events for Hong Kong. The
line-up of events is expected to attract more than 180,000 mainland and
international visitors.
Notable
wins include the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR) Congress, being
held in November, aviation conference Routes World 2025, and the World Cancer
Congress and International Federation of Landscape Architects World Congress,
both taking place in 2026.
