Hong Kong has numbers, but Singapore hosts bigger events: Pacific World

Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand are the top markets in Asia that have hosted the highest number of events for the first half of 2018, according to a mid-year review released by Pacific World. In fact, Hong Kong was mentioned as one of the top three most "in-demand" destinations worldwide along with France which dominated the market in Europe.

The report from the agency attributed the high demand for Hong Kong to increased bookings from US which happened to be its sixth source market in the meetings and incentive sector. The top five source markets for Hong Kong are from its Asian neighbours.

Meanwhile, new flight routes from US to Hong Kong, such as the Los Angeles-Hong Kong flights launched by Hong Kong Airlines last year and the Seattle-Hong Kong flights starting next year are set to further boost the city’s standing among American meeting planners. Incidentally, Seoul and Bangkok were the two Asian cities that received the highest number of RFPs (request for proposal) from the US market.

“We are continuing to see high demand for Hong Kong, which has hosted more events in the past six months than any other destination,” said Patricia Silvio, global marketing manager of Pacific World. Figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board show that the meetings and events segment in the city has grown by 14% during the period covered.

Nevertheless, the report pointed out that Hong Kong’s traditional rival Singapore has hosted the largest events in the region in the past six months. The largest in question was none other than the Trump-Kim summit held at Capella Singapore in May while the city state takes fifth spot in the rankings of Asian cities with the highest number of events.

Qixin Liow, senior account manager, Pacific Word Singapore, said the historical meeting between the US and North Korean leaders helped put Singapore on the map as a safe destination. As a result, Singapore is expected to receive more RFPs, Liow added. 

“The Singapore Tourism Board has increased efforts to identify technological trends among industry experts to try to match industry needs versus technological solutions. This initiative will help position Singapore as a meetings and congress destination," said Liow.