Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Group stresses revenue, job potentials of exhibit centers
WHAT are the global trends in exhibitions and conventions? What are the effective marketing strategies that make an event successful? How can the Philippines compete in the international exhibitions and conventions industry?
These and other issues concerning the exhibitions and conventions industry will be discussed during a conference organized by the Philippine Association of Congress/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers Inc. (Paceos) — in cooperation with the Department of Tourism (DOT), European Chamber of Commerce and the Center for International Trade Exhibition and Mission — today at the Shangril-la’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa.
Paceos was founded in 1981 and currently has over 40 members that include professional exhibitions, conventions and event organizers in the country as well as venue owners, booth contractors, freight forwarders, hotels, travel and tour agencies, airline and transportation companies.
Lobby
Through the years, it has lobbied for the development of the industry and the Philippines, as a whole, into one of the leading Asian destinations for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice).
However, while countries like China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore enjoy a large chunk of the exhibition and conventions business, the Philippines, which is not even included in the Asian loop for Mice destinations, has yet to take advantage of the industry’s outstanding potential benefits.
A research conducted by the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association revealed that Hong Kong exhibition industry’s contribution to the economy grew from $2.4 billion in 2004 to $8.3 billion in 2005. Revenue for this year is expected at $10 billion.
The study said direct expenditures from visitors alone on food, hotel, and shopping reached $846 million, and generated about 47,000 jobs in 2004.
With the construction of a new international exhibition center on Lantau Island, these figures are expected to grow, it added.
“Government should look at these figures and see why investments should be made to develop the industry,” said Paceos president Marisa Nallana. “But first, we should start by building bigger and better exhibition centers.”
Few venues
In the Philippines, there are few world-class venues for exhibitions and conventions. This includes the World Trade Center and the Philippine International Convention Center with a combined space of about 50,000 square meters.
“The ongoing construction of the Cebu International Convention Center is a good addition to our exhibition venues, but still not enough to compete with Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Center and the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Center, which have a combined 168,000 square meters (sq. m.) of exhibition space. And this does not include meeting rooms and function halls,” Nallana said.
“All other cities are expanding. Seoul currently has 148,345 sq. m., and Shanghai has 221,700 sq. m. and will increase to 264,588sq. m. and 221,700 sq.m., respectively, by 2010. Thailand is building another exhibition center of 75,000 sq. m. in Chiangmai and this is government led,” she added.
\Nallana said government has to realize how far the country’s neighbors have gone. She said “there is a pressing need to start work on a new facility to fight international competition and catch up with the growing momentum in the industry.”
“All they have to consider are the benefits in terms of job generation, business sales, and tax revenues. Think of what those could do for our ailing economy,” she said.
Education
But until government realizes this, Paceos will continue to do whatever it can to help the industry, by holding dialogues with government, working with the DOT and PCVC and organizing conferences and seminars to assist and educate promising organizers in the country.
“This is part of our ongoing education program, which we institutionalized in 2002,” Nallana said. “We’re going back to Cebu because we believe that next to Manila, it is the ideal destination for international events.”
Paceos invited major players in the industry to speak in today’s conference, including: Daniel Corpuz, executive director of the Philippine Convention Venues Corp.; Henry J. Schumacher of the European Chamber of Commerce of The Philippines; Jose Luis U. Yulo Jr.,past president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce; Michael Alan Hamlin of Teamasia; Estela Quiambao-Dela Rosa of the University of the Philippines Asian Institute Of Tourism; Dexter Deyto of SM Megatrade Hall; and Timothy Wright of Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will open the conference. (PR)
