ITE Hong Kong 2022, which the second edition held physically since the pandemic, was held successfully from August 18 to 21 at Halls 3 of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. John KC LEE sent his Message to welcome ITE participants! (Click HERE for the Message from CE).
The Guest of Honor, Mr YEUNG Yun-hung, Kevin, GBS, JP, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR Government officiated the opening ceremony.
ITE helps boost Tourism Recovery
The main theme this year is Reconnect & Recover! By providing a platform to facilitate various stakeholders of the travel industry to reconnect, hopefully, ITE will speed up recovery. Please to report there are good reasons to believe it been successful!
Likely benefit from recent announcement by the Hong Kong government to cut mandatory hotel quarantine from 7 to 3 days, ITE 2022 was extensively covered and well attended by media, ranging from TV, radio to newspapers!
Reporters came not only in all 4 days when ITE opened but also in our pre-show press conference held week before and the press preview the day before ITE opening! These certainly help rekindle or boost travel interest in the society.
Media reported highly positive comments by exhibitors on ITE’s last day! For examples, receiving nearly 10 times more enquiries than last year; meet many serious visitors asking in details, and believing many in Hong Kong can (afford) and have strong travel interest!
ITE bigger & remaining highly international
Comparing to last year ITE 2022 is not only bigger but also more international! It occupied around 5600 SQM (+7%) with exhibitors totaling 107 (+4%) of whom 71% from outside and overseas! There were 32 participating countries and regions which an increase of 78%!
Its first 1.5 days opened only to registered trade visitors, while in remaining days and sessions visitors could pay admission fee at entrance to enter. In fact, ITE2022 drew more visitors, 2752 (+8.2%) from trade and corporations and 31098 (+14.7%) from the public.
Quality upheld in ITE
The organizer been working closely with exhibitors and business associates to ensure effectiveness of ITE as platform not only for facilitating business exchange and info sharing, but also for tasting travel fun!
Over 20 national, regional and municipal tourism boards from various destinations staged official pavilion or stand, some of which attractively designed and installed with, say, photo booth and screen for zoom meeting or video broadcast.
Special displays in corporation with trade association or media include, say, for MICE the Domestic MICE Corner; for Green and Outdoor Tourism the Winners Display of school Photo Competition and Glamping; and the Cultural Tourism Pavilion featuring interesting museums and innovation zones locally and in the mainland.
Also, a teahouse in the Central District of Hong Kong re-construct architecturally in its pavilion the elegant culinary and life style of elite back in the early years of the last century.
At the stage were Cultural Performances, photo sessions with mascots and prize presentation. Over 70 trade and public seminars held in purpose built rooms inside the exhibition halls while there were demos and quiz at stands.
Pre-pandemic, Hong Kong often ranked world’s 11th or 12th largest outbound market by spending. Specifically in 2019, the city spent US$26.9 billion on international travel, and made say 2.29 million visits to Japan, 1.045 million trips to Thailand, 315,150 trips to Australia, and 409,030 trips to UK.
This year, more Hong Kong residents travel abroad as more international destinations stop requiring mandatory quarantine, according to government’s statistics.
The next ITE in 2023
The next edition, ITE Hong Kong 2023 which comprises of the 37th ITE (Leisure) & the 18th ITE MICE, will be held from June 15 to 18, 2023 at Halls 1 of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Organized by TKS Exhibition Services Ltd., the annual ITE is strongly supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, with Hong Kong Tourism Board, Macau Government Tourism Office, travel and MICE trade associations as Supporters.
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