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Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
(HKTDC), the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair; Home
InStyle; the Hong Kong International Home Textiles and
Furnishings Fair; Fashion InStyle; the Hong Kong
International Printing & Packaging Fair as well as the
Hong Kong International Licensing Show successfully
attracted close to 56,000 buyers from over 130 countries and
regions. About 60% buyers were non-local coming from mainly
Mainland China, Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), Taiwan, the United States, Japan and Korea. The
concurrent Asian Licensing Conference also invited about 30
global industrial giants and insiders to share insights.
Exhibitors and buyers responding to surveys commissioned by
the HKTDC said they expected business and sales to return to
pre-pandemic levels within 6 to 18 months.
Sophia
Chong, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC, said: “The
development of the creative and knowledge-based economy has
become a major driving force for global economic growth. For
the first time in April, the HKTDC held seven major
lifestyle and licensing events concurrently. The Hong Kong
Houseware Fair and the Hong Kong Fashion Week were rebranded
as Home InStyle and Fashion InStyle respectively, offering
more diverse creative products to international buyers;
while the Licensing Show was repositioned to cover multiple
lifestyle categories, bringing greater synergies and opening
up more collaboration possibilities across industries. We
are happy to see that many exhibitors were able to secure
on-site orders, which is very encouraging.”
She added
that Hong Kong was an important hub for promoting creativity
and intellectual property trade in the region, with the
advantage of being close to the mainland while connected to
the world. Given the success of these events, the HKTDC
hopes to seize more opportunities from the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and ASEAN markets,
as well as the global market, by organising more large-scale
international exhibitions, including CENTRESTAGE and the
Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair in September, further
strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a global sourcing
hub.
The six exhibitions, the physical editions of
which have just concluded, attracted more than 4,100
exhibitors from 23 countries and regions. Under HKTDC’s
EXHIBITION+ hybrid model, exhibitors and traders can connect
online for another week beyond the physical fair days until
29 April via the Click2Match smart business matching
platform. So far over 2,600 meetings between exhibitors and
buyers have been scheduled.
Over 50% exhibitors and
buyers are optimistic on growth prospects
Commissioned
by the HKTDC, an independent research agency interviewed
around 850 exhibitors and buyers during the events. Over
half of the respondents (52%) expected the relaxed
quarantine measures and restoration of business travel
worldwide would have a positive impact on business and
sales, while nearly 70% expected business and sales would be
back to pre-pandemic levels within 6 to 18 months. Most
buyers also said Hong Kong (85%) and the mainland (60%) were
their top choices for trade-fair participation.
The
respondents also believed that the Northern & Western
Europe (21%) and ASEAN countries (15%) would be their new
target markets in the next two years, and they were
optimistic about the growth prospects.
Regarding
product trends, respondents at Home InStyle predicted sleek
and simple design (41%) will be in high demand, while
respondents at the Gifts Fair foresee sustainable products
(61%) to be market trend. Products with the greatest growth
potential are gardening, camping & outdoor products
(24%), eco-friendly products (20%), health & wellness
products (18%) and kitchenware & tableware (18%); while
for gifts, prospects are best for sustainable gifts (26%),
advertising gifts & premium (25%) and tech gifts
(23%).
Cultural, creative design and AI projects in
focus
The Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair and Home
InStyle launched a brand-new Cultural & Creative Corner,
featuring more than 80 exhibitors. The Chairman of
first-time participant Beijing Enamel Factory, Xie Yanhua,
said: “The Cultural & Creative Corner has attracted the
attention of buyers who are looking for unique products with
cultural characteristics. We have connected with buyers from
Hong Kong and Mainland China. We hope to develop long-term
cooperation with them.”
This year’s Hong Kong
International Licensing Show also featured more than 550
diverse licensing projects and brands including art,
culture, entertainment and design. Many licensees expressed
satisfaction with the exhibition’s traffic and successfully
signed cooperation agreements.
Innovative technology
is bringing revolutionary changes to various industries. A
Hong Kong exhibitor at Fashion InStyle’s InnoFashion and
Trade Services, Guy Shirazi, Director of Product of
Stratasys said: “This is our debut exhibition in Hong Kong
to increase the exposure of our PolyJet 3D printing
technology. Buyers from Hong Kong, India and Mainland China
approached us and showed strong interest in our 3D printers
that enable direct-to-textile printing on garments, footwear
and luxury accessories like hats and bags. We are positive
about the business prospect. This exhibition is a great
platform to drive our expansion in Asia.”
Visitors
flock to joint exhibitions with onsite orders
Italian
company TVS spa has exhibited at the HKTDC houseware fair
since 2005. Their export area manager Theo Tassias said:
“Two years ago, we launched a new collection called eco-ok
induction which is made from recycled aluminium and comes
with a recycled plastic handle. The physical Home InStyle
held after the pandemic provides a good timing for us to
introduce this eco-friendly collection to global buyers and
new distributors. We have established connections with a lot
of new buyers from many countries and regions such as
Ecuador, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, the
United States and Vietnam.”
Buyer from Poland Pawel
Kulig met new suppliers from the mainland, Taiwan, India and
Korea and identified six potential mainland suppliers during
his Home InStyle visit. “We are very interested in their
water bottles, glassware, food jars and storage boxes. We
have asked them to send us samples and quotations and will
place trial orders worth US$100,000-US$200,000 with the
right suppliers.” he said.
The six major exhibitions
held under one roof for the first time provided buyers with
a one-stop sourcing platform. Italian buyer Enrico Bassani
said: “I am happy to be back in Hong Kong visiting Fashion
InStyle to source some fashion accessories. I am liaising
with four new suppliers from Hong Kong and Mainland China
for jewellery watches. I’ve also met five packaging
suppliers at Hong Kong International Printing &
Packaging Fair. In total, I expect to spend about Euro
300,000 [US$333,000] this time for various kinds of watches
and packaging items.” United Kingdom buyer Zahoor A Qurashi
also visited the Printing and Packaging Fair. He identified
10 mainland exhibitors and expected to buy various types of
food boxes from them with an estimated value of
US$250,000.
The HKTDC organised a series of
exhibitions and conferences this spring, covering various
lifestyle sectors. The seven events ran concurrently for the
first time, from 19 to 22 April at the Hong Kong Convention
and Exhibition Centre. The events included the Hong Kong
Gifts & Premium Fair; Home InStyle (formerly the Hong
Kong Houseware Fair); the Hong Kong International Home
Textiles and Furnishings Fair; Fashion InStyle (formerly the
Hong Kong Fashion Week); the Hong Kong International
Printing & Packaging Fair as well as the Hong Kong
International Licensing Show and Asian Licensing Conference
which ended on 21
April.
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