HKTDC lifestyle, licensing to 56,000 buyers

Parallel exhibitions generated cross-industry business opportunities, promoting creative and knowledge-based economic growth in Hong Kong

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