Goingtomeet.com Press

BITEC, a favourite industrial and B2B events venue, formally announces today it plans to increase the percentage share of lifestyle events to 45% of its total events portfolio by 2013, compared to 32% in 2010. The move will avail the upscale and middle class neighborhood near and around BITEC, which remained has untapped to date.

“A total of 40 exhibitions were held at BITEC in 2010.Twenty-seven or 68% were industrial events, while 13 or 32%were lifestyle events. We are targeting to improve the percentage share of lifestyle events to 45% by the year 2013,” said Ms. PanitthaBuri, Director of Marketing & Sales, Director of Marketing and Sales, Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC).

“Overall, the number of events held in BITEC had been growing on average of 12% a year and in 2011 we will have over 45 exhibitions at our center,” she said.

“Our expansion of lifestyle events does not mean we are repositioning BITEC nor implying we are reducing our focus on industrial and B2B exhibitions,” said MsPanittha.

“Exhibition and eventsheld at BITEC, whether industrial, B2B or lifestyle can bank on the venue’s renowned operations team and proximity to the International airport,” she added.

“Our center will become even more accessible to participants with the completion of the BTS sky train which according to the BMA is due to start running to BITEC on 12 August, 2011. We are building a covered walkway connecting directly from the Sukhumvit Road to BITEC,” she said.

Ms. Panittha said lifestyle shows were complementary to industrial and B2B shows in the sense lifestyle exhibition or events would approach business visitors of B2B events as consumers with high purchasing power.

BITEC’s lifestyle events included Thailand International Furniture Fair (TIFF), Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International HousewareFair (BIG & BIH), Jim Thompson Sale, Homeworks Expo, Photo Fair and several furniture fairs.

Ms. Panitha said BITEC’s neighborhood was home to millions of consumers which had remained untapped to the fullest.

She said middle to high income communities, housing estates, residential condominiums, upper class international schools and office-shopping-residential clusters freckled the whole BITEC neighborhood.

Ms. Panittha cited Thailand International Furniture Fair (TIFF) and Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International HousewareFair (BIG & BIH) as the two most recent additions to BITEC’s lifestyle events portfolio.

TIFF was held at BITEC on 16-20 March and Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International Houseware Fair (BIG & BIH) will be held at BITEC on 19-24 April and 18-23 October 2011.

Now in its 17th year, MEGA SHOW PART 1 is established as the major annual sourcing fixture for over 60,000 international buyers, who visit Hong Kong every October, to source, compare and select from over 3,400 exhibiting companies, showing a comprehensive range of competitively-priced products from the gift, housewares, premiums and toy industries.

MEGA SHOW PART 1, will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from Monday October 20 to Thursday October 23, 2008, timed conveniently between the first two phases of the southern china trade fairs in nearby Canton, China.

This coming October, a new look will be unveiled to MEGA SHOW PART 2 which will run from Tuesday 28 October to Thursday 30 October 2008 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, again timed to fall between the second and third phase of the southern china trade fairs in Canton.

In addition to the diverse mix of gifts and premiums, over 800 Asia suppliers of essential and everyday items, will be presented, with a selection of inspiring new ideas and innovations for home interiors, garden and outdoor, house improvement, and designs for good living joining the show this season.

Two Trade Shows, nearly 5,000 Suppliers, over 74,000 Buyers only in Hong Kong, every October.

Registration is now open for two trade exhibitions for trade professionals only and can be done online at www.mega-show.com

Venue : Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Organiser : Kenfair International Limited. www.kenfair.com

For further information please contact Linda Chan, Tel : (852) 2311 8216, Email : linda.chan@kenfair.com

The timing of the HKTDC Summer Sourcing Show for Gifts, House-ware and Toys – 2 to 5 July 2008 – presents international buyers with a last-minute chance to expand their festive season inventory.

Encompassing the three pillars of festive season retailing success – gift-ware, house-ware and toys – the trade show, now in its fifth edition, is a valuable sourcing point for the international industry. Last year’s buyers, over 20,000 of them, came from 96 countries & regions.

A first-time attendee in 2007 was Jamal Awad, Deputy Managing Director, Grand Stores, in the United Arab Emirates. Grand Stores stock many different products in photography, cosmetics, travel accessories, linen and household, gifts and novelties as well as tableware and houseware. At last year’s fair Mr Awad commented, There is a wide range of products and I’ve found many items of interest. The fair is well organized with good facilities. This is a good place to do business with suppliers and I am already thinking about coming again next year.”

Richard Morgan, Managing Director, Morganware, Australia, first visited the fair in 2006. “I enjoyed it so much I had to come back this year,â€? he said when interviewed in 2007. I have already picked up three new suppliers.

Mr Morgan was one of many buyers who appreciated the more intimate nature of the Summer Sourcing Show, which presented 825 exhibitors in 2007. The fact is, at this fair you have more time to sit and talk with the suppliers. The more in-depth nature of the interaction between buyers and exhibitors is a characteristic of the fair.

The organisation of the event, which Mr Awad highlighted, is another of its strengths. With its diversity of products, zoning is essential and the fair is streamlined into product categories such as the Gift Ideas, Dining & Cooking, Home Living, Style & Décor, Fun & Play, Costume Jewellery and Ladies World. Another zone, Treasure Island, is dedicated to high-end, design-driven products.

Always evolving, the fair has announced two new zones for 2008. One is the Advertising Premium Zone, which caters to buyers of promotional gifts, novelties, posters and other items. The other is Home Tech, which offers healthcare electronics, home security devices, intelligent home appliances, home automation and small electrical appliances.

Besides being a trading platform, the Summer Sourcing Show will have a series of seminars. Topics like Latest Trends, Updates on Product Safety Directives and Prospects of Toys Market and Latest Trends of Lifestyle Products and Gifts Market will be covered. There will be new product launching sessions for participants to get the latest industry and product information.

For further information about the show, please visit www.hktdc.com/summersourcingshow

For trade media enquiries, please contact Ms Judy Ko of HKTDC
Tel: +852 2824 0026
Fax: +852 2240 4071
Email: judy.ko@tdc.org.hk