'MICE' arrivals up 4.6%

May 22, 2012

Overnight MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) arrivals to Hong Kong surpassed 300,000 in the first quarter of this year, up 4.6% year on year, the Tourism Board announced today.
 
Of all overnight MICE arrivals, 40%, or more than 120,000, came from the Mainland, a 1.2% increase.
 
Total overnight MICE arrivals from short-haul markets rose by 9.8%, surpassing 100,000. North Asia achieved the best growth at 16.2%, and arrivals from Taiwan grew by nearly 10%.
 
Overnight MICE arrivals increased 3.7%, or more than 80,000 for the long-haul market. The Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific region showed the most prominent growth at 7.2%.
 
As for Europe, despite the sovereign debt crisis, many European buyers attended trade fairs in Hong Kong during the first quarter, causing arrivals from the region to rise by 6% to 40,000.