The Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) wishes to assure all participants, buyers and exhibitors, attending trade exhibitions and conferences in Hong Kong that events are running smoothly and without interruption. Hong Kong is a welcoming city for investors and visitors.
Although there have been road closures during several public activities, up until the time of this announcement, both of the two major venues for trade exhibitions and international conferences, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) and AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), are accessible by foot, private cars / freight trucks and public transportation including subway, and are fully operational.
HKECIA Chairman Mr Stuart Bailey stated, “Business is as usual in Hong Kong. At this time we are seeing that major exhibitions and conferences in Hong Kong are running without incident or interruption. Exhibition and conference events were not targeted for disruption. Hong Kong is definitely still open for business and safe to travel.
“Of course visitors should take extra care and be mindful of areas in which protests might be taking place and take note of any special traffic arrangements such as temporary road closures and disruptions on public transport. But it’s worth remembering that Hong Kong is consistently ranked one of the safest cities in the world,” added Mr Bailey.
June to August are peak months for mega consumer exhibitions in Hong Kong while a few public processions took place in different locations. All those exhibitions ran smoothly without interruption. The annual Hong Kong Book Fair was attended by nearly 1 million visitors over seven show days.
The annual trade and consumer exhibition, the Food Expo, and three concurrent exhibitions which utilize all the exhibition halls at the HKCEC was held as scheduled during 15 to 19 August with no interruption despite there was the large scale peaceful rally on 18 August. The four exhibitions brought together more than 2,100 exhibitors and welcomed a total of nearly 450,000 visitors.
There were cancellations of flights departing and arriving Hong Kong on 12 and 13 August due to operation disruption of the Hong Kong International Airport. Smooth operations of the airport terminals and normal flight movements have been resumed since 14 August. Currently, the Airport Authority Hong Kong has obtained an interim injunction to restrain persons from unlawfully obstructing the airport’s operation. At the same time, access control at the airport terminal buildings has been implemented. Passengers are reminded to arrive early for the relevant checks.
As of today, the Seafood Expo Asia (SEA), originally scheduled for 3-5 September at the HKCEC, is the only one international exhibition that has been cancelled. Other international trade exhibitions scheduled for early September will go on as planned. They are: Restaurant & Bar Hong Kong X Gourmet Asia 2019 (3 – 5 September), Natural Organic Asia 2019 (3 – 5 September), Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair (3 – 7 September), Asia Fruit Logistica (4 – 6 September) with Asiafruit Congress on 3 September, and CENTRESTAGE (4 – 7 September).
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