HAIKOU /China/, November 30. /TASS/. The scale of Hainan exhibitions will dynamically increase, and the income of this sector will reach 60 billion yuan ($9.4 billion) by 2025, the Hainan International Communications Network reported citing the forecast of the Provincial Department of Commerce.
The department calculated that the growth rate of this indicator will average 12% over the next few years. "According to the Hainan Free Trade Port General Program, an entire cluster of exhibition companies will be created on the island," the department stated.
Hainan plans to hold about 200 large-scale events with more than 1,000 participants each year, including five international expos and six major festivals. In this regard, the utilization rate of professional equipment in this sector should reach 60-80%.
The provincial administration also plans to organize at least five events annually recognized by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry and at least 10 recognized by the International Congress and Convention Association. To meet this goal, three to five specialized companies with revenues of more than 100 million yuan ($15.6 million) per year will operate on the island.
According to statistics, from 2016 to 2019, Hainan's exhibition industry grew at an average annual rate of 21% and the gross added value of this sector increased by 11.6%. Event participants from other regions of China and foreign countries started staying in the province for longer stretches of time. In 2019, the average time was half a day, whereas in 2020, it was already 3.2 days. Consumer spending during the guests’ stay on the island increased by 14%, to 2.3 thousand yuan (about $370).