Vinexpo Asia maintained strong visitor numbers this year despite the event being suspended in Hong Kong for the first time in six years, but what do the three-day trade fair’s attendance figures say about how international event attendance is changing in a post-COVID world?
Vinexpo Asia 2024 took place from 28 to 30 May and attracted 1,032 producers from 35 countries. A third of exhibitors were from France, reflecting the importance of French wine in the Asian market.
The Australian wine industry also drew attention with 85 wineries exhibiting to celebrate China’s lifting of retaliatory tariffs. Other major exhibitors at the show included Italy, Spain, Chile and China.
Visitor numbers exceeded organizers’ expectations, with a total of 14,203 visitors from 60 countries attending the three-day exhibition.
Visitors to the exhibition were mainly from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, with these four markets accounting for 75% of visitors this year, which Vinexpo Asia organisers believe reflects a major shift in visitor numbers to international trade events.
Rodolphe Lamaze, CEO of the Vinexposium Group, coined the term “continentalisation” and argues that visitors are now most likely to attend trade fairs held in their own neighbouring regions.
Hong Kong has been the main hub of Vinexpo Asia since the first event in 1998. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers decided to expand the scale of the exhibition, which will now be held alternately in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Ramaithe explained that while Singapore is perfectly located to serve the Southeast Asian market, Hong Kong is “definitely the best place to serve the Chinese market”.
“It’s not one or the other, it’s both,” he said during the trade show. At the event’s inaugural event in Singapore last year, 80 percent of visitors were from Southeast Asia.
Rameis said catering to this increasingly important wine market is easy: “It’s simple. Over the past six years, the wine-interested population in Southeast Asia has grown dramatically, driven by a younger population, a growing middle class and an appetite for Western-style wines.”
He added: “As we face the challenge of climate change, [and] With wine consumption declining, having new markets means a lot of opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Vinexpo Asia in Hong Kong is focusing primarily on mainland China and the surrounding region, as evidenced by visitor numbers this year. “We are very happy with this strategic decision,” Lamais said.
During the exhibition, Vinexpo Asia’s business matching services facilitated transactions between buyers and exhibitors through its online platform, resulting in 4,237 pre-booked meetings.
The next Vinexpo Asia will be held in Singapore from 27-29 May 2025.
