Runners at a warm-up event for Sanya Forum in December.Photo: Li Xuanmin/GT
South China's Hainan Province has had a busy couple of weeks. At least four international events - Sanya Forum, Haitian Feast, Miss World pageant and the Hainan International Film Festival - have taken place in Hainan in December, putting the spotlight on the tropical island's growing international exhibition and conferences industry. So what are Hainan's advantages and disadvantages in further developing the industry?
Hainan, a tropical island in southern China, has welcomed throngs of visitors attending international exhibitions and conferences held in the province this year, especially during the winter months.
Last week, at least four international events, including the Sanya Forum, Haitian Feast, Miss World and the Hainan International Film Festival, the first of its kind to be held in Hainan, kicked off in Sanya.
The tight schedule has led high-ranking officials in Hainan to rush between different events, a government official told the Global Times, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Senior officials have all been out of the office in recent days to deliver speeches at different events… I think we can only take a breath after January."
As exhibitors, speakers, company executives as well as sports and movie stars from all over the world have descended upon Hainan, the demand for shuttle bus rentals has also shot up to a level that has far exceeded the island's capacity.
Due to the shortage, the organizers of the Sanya Forum apologized in a Wechat group that they were unable to pick up guests from hotels to take them to the conference venue, which was about a 15- to 20-minute walk away. "Even the vans and coaches have all been booked," the organizers complained.
"But it is not a bad thing at all. You may enjoy walking along the coastline and the warm weather," they said.
Hainan's tropical weather has made the island a top destination in China for holding international conferences. In Sanya, there were 5,850 exhibitions held in the city from January to October of this year, up 11 percent year-on-year, showing growth momentum, according to Xie Qinglin, the deputy mayor of Sanya.
In 2017, exhibitions in Sanya drew 1.93 million people to participate, a number that is about 2.5 times Sanya's population, Xie said, adding that those exhibitions have driven up the revenue of the local hotel industry by 20 to 30 percent.
OpportunitiesThe boom in Sanya's conference and exhibition industry this year comes after the State Council, the country's cabinet, announced in April a batch of new measures that will build Hainan into a free trade port by 2025 and make tourism, high-tech, and a modern services industry the pillars of the island's economy.
Under the policy, the international exhibition and conference industry was named one of the top priorities in Hainan's development of modern services.
The local government in Hainan has considered plans to launch several exhibition projects, including an international film festival, a maritime forum and a commodity fair, according to news reports.
Some of the projects, such as the film festival, have already been held so far.
Chen Zeyan, the executive vice director of the academic advisory committee under the China Convention and Exhibition Society (CCES), told the Global Times on Thursday that he is confident that Hainan could rise to join the ranks of Hawaii in the US or Cannes in France in the future, thanks to the government's stimulus policy and booming international communication.
Hainan's current vice governor Shen Danyang, who has also served as the spokesman for the
Ministry of Commerce and head of Policy Research Office, used to be the executive vice president of CCES, according to Chen.
"Shen has a solid background in the exhibition industry, so he knows well how to guide this industry's fast growth in Hainan," Chen said.
The local government's visa-free policy could also woo more foreign investors and make it more convenient for the island's international exchange, Kris Van Goethem, the inbound and meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions director of Shanghai-based travel agency Thomas Cook DMC, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the Sanya Forum.
Since May 1, 2018, passport holders from 59 countries, including the UK, the US, Canada and other European and Asian counties, have been allowed to enter Hainan for stays of up to 30 days, making it more convenient for planners to invite foreign exhibitors.
Additionally, China is further opening its market, looking for wider international cooperation, and scaling up imports of commodities and services based on the country's own needs.
As such, industry insiders predicted that more foreign companies would be eager to join exhibition fairs in Hainan to benefit from the booming Chinese market.
"Hainan has already built some basic facilities for holding sports events, which will soon help its conference and exhibition industry take off even further," Chen said.
Far from enoughOn expectations that the number of exhibitors, both foreign and domestic, will soar in the near future, the tropical island is facing a critical problem: Does Hainan have the infrastructure to accommodate the rising market demand?
For now, the pressure is looming, and a shortage of vehicles in recent days is just the tip of the iceberg.
Take Sanya as an example. The city now is only home to two exhibition halls with a combined area of 18,000 square meters, leading to a lack of venue space when several international conferences are held at the same time.
Even the two existing exhibition halls are not suitable for holding specialized exhibitions, according to industry observers.
The deputy mayor, Xie, also admitted at the Sanya forum that the infrastructure network and accompanying facilities in Hainan are relatively weak.
"The delivery cost of shipping goods to exhibit in Hainan, therefore, is high — another disadvantage in developing the exhibition and conference industry," Xie said.
But he stressed that the local government is now addressing the problems by building more venues and improving the island's connectivity to other regions in China.
While the infrastructure issue could potentially diminish Hainan's attractiveness for holding exhibitions, analysts also suggest that Hainan, for now, could leave its weaknesses behind and develop certain types of exhibitions based on its own strengths.
"It could hold more forums on tropical oceans and ship-building based on its geographic characteristics. Hainan could also take advantage of its rising international exchange and consider holding high-tech exhibitions, like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas," Chen suggested.
