April 2008
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Canton calling |
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The Pearl River Delta is booming, and the southern coastal province of Guangdong is the new MICE kid on the block, reports Jane Ram.
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Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen.
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Huang: some sort of MICE promotion bureau is long overdue.
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While Beijing and Shanghai have been grabbing all the international attention, the region in China with the most MICE potential is the southern coastal province of Guangdong. The capital, Guangzhou – formerly known as Canton – was one of China’s earliest trading cities. In recent years, the provincial government has been developing the entire Pearl River Delta (PRD) as a MICE zone.
For some 30 years, this region, which includes Guangzhou and the coastal Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen, has been China’s major engine of economic growth.
And the cash-rich province has spent good money on constructing world-class convention and exhibition centres, while private investors have built hotels in all categories, some managed by the leading international chains. It is not an exaggeration that Guangzhou has one of the world’s largest concentrations of exhibition and convention facilities. Among its major cities, Shenzhen has its own International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC), while other delta cities including Dongguan, Shunde and Zhuhai each have their own MICE facilities.
The hardware is impressive and excellent, not forgetting the almost infinite resources for creative spouse programmes – shopping, cultural programmes and spas.
But not all agree Guangdong’s “build it and users will flock to fill it up” principle will work. Four Points by Sheraton, Shenzhen director of sales and marketing, Mr John Huang, said: “Some sort of MICE promotion bureau is long overdue...The government wants to develop MICE in Guangdong, but could learn more from partners, like Hong Kong.”
While statistics are hard to come by, no one will challenge Guangdong’s stature in the exhibitions segment. The China Import Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair – “a fair within a fair” show for different industries – has ballooned to some 500,000m2 in size.
While the general perception is that the province offers little except gritty, industrial conurbations, gems do exist.
Hong Kong-based Pacific World regional general manager, Ms Peggy Lau, said: “People have no idea about the areas outside the cities.
“Nobody knows that Shenzhen has superb resorts in mountainous areas, at the beach and beside lakes and golf courses.”
Pacific World has organised an increasing number of incentive programmes in Guangzhou and Shenzhen over the past few years. “Guangdong’s appeal lies in its novelty. Many of our clients have been to Beijing and Shanghai and are looking for new experiences. Guangdong is going to be a hot destination for 2008 and we even have quite a few bookings for 2009,” Ms Lau added.
And the covers on Guangdong will be lifted soon with the staging of two major international sporting events. Guangzhou is the venue of the 2010 Asian Games, and Shenzhen the Universiade (a sports event organised by the International University Sports Federation) in 2011.
Meanwhile, these events are serving as a catalyst for major infrastructure investment, in the region of RMB100 billion (US$14 billion). New national superhighways, fast rail tracks, new train stations and additional underground networks in both cities plus airport expansion, will make Guangzhou and Shenzhen more accessible for international and domestic tourists and MICE visitors.
Exhibitions
Most exhibitions revolve around Guangdong’s key industries – automotives, furniture and ceramics. The largest is the Canton Fair, which takes place twice a year at Guangzhou’s new Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center (GICEC). This year’s dates are April 15 to 30 April and October 15 to 30.
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Guangzhou Olympic Stadium.
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Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center.
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Private investors are building a second, large exhibition centre alongside GICEC. Tentatively called Pazhou Mart, it is expected to cater to the spillover from the Canton Fair and other big events. Additional privately developed centres coming up nearby include Baiyun International Convention Center and the Zhong Zhou Exhibition Center. A number of other smaller exhibition centres are scattered throughout Guangzhou city, including Jinhan Center in Liuhua Road, next door to the old Canton Fair site. The quality of the building is good. It is relatively small, suitable for product launches and similar events and it has the great advantage of being linked directly to the Guangzhou metro system.
Business Strategies Group principal, Mr Paul Woodward, said: “Guangdong, in general, works much better for trade fairs than it does for most other parts of the MICE mix.”
Top sources of Guangdong’s international exhibitions in 2006 and 2007 were Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore.
Most event organisers in the delta region are either from Hong Kong or are the China subsidiaries of the major international exhibition companies, mostly German, according to Mr Woodward. In Guangzhou, the market is completely dominated by the China Foreign Trade Center Group – owner-operator of the city’s major venues and organiser of the Canton Fair, and most of the city’s big exhibitions year-round.
Brand new exhibition hardware might not be sufficient for Guangzhou to join the world’s big exhibition players.
Professional know-how is in short supply, language skills are generally poor to non-existent.
There is also red tape associated with importing goods into the country. Regular traffic gridlocks, air pollution and the general perception of personal risk are other challenges.
Despite the recent appreciation of the RMB – almost 10 per cent last year, with a similar rise forecast in 2008 – venues and accommodation are substantially cheaper than in Hong Kong or in China’s other major MICE cities, Beijing and Shanghai.
The only exception is during the twice-yearly Canton Fair periods when Guangzhou’s hotels command exorbitant prices.
In general, costs can be one third to half prevailing rates in Hong Kong.
For now, it seems Guangdong’s growing MICE infrastructure poses little threat to Hong Kong. Hong Kong-based Mr Woodward said: “Generally, they are serving different market segments although there remains clear and growing competition from the Canton Fair as it modernises its management and becomes more customer-focused.
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Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center.
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Lau: Guangdong's appeal lies in its novelty.
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“Hong Kong’s MICE industry is growing pretty well.
“There was a loss of exhibition activity 10 to 15 years ago when industrial machinery shows were moved into the PRD, to places like Dongguan.
“But that process has been complete for some while and we don’t anticipate any further significant ‘leakage’ of Hong Kong fairs into the hinterland.
“Exhibition space is much bigger and proximity of the factories and local buyers mean that some types of events work better in Guangzhou, or elsewhere in Guangdong, than they do in Hong Kong.”
Shenzhen lags behind Guangzhou, although approximately half the attendees at some of the big government sponsored fairs like the annual Electronics Fair in November and the Medical Equipment show in April are international. In September 2006, Shenzhen successfully hosted the World Dental Congress.
Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen director of marketing, Ms Helene Fong, said Shenzhen had a special position as a gateway to and from Hong Kong.
Ms Fong said she expected the city to attract more corporate meetings in view of the increasing number of new service companies that were establishing offices in Shenzhen.
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