10th UFI Open Seminar in Asia Scores Record Attendance in Hong Kong
March 24, 2015
More than 300 delegates from 21 countries and territories broke attendance records when they gathered recently in Hong Kong for UFI, the Global Association for the Exhibitions Industry’s 10th Open Seminar in Asia.
This year, the seminar returned to Hong Kong, which also hosted the inaugural edition in 2006. The seminar was co-hosted by both the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), and it was held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
Speakers at this year’s seminar included a number of industry veterans and business leaders. Dr. William Fung, group chairman of Li & Fung, the seminar’s keynote speaker, shared his views on the future of sourcing in Asia.
Other speakers included Lucy Merritt and James Campion from ExCeL London, Mark Temple-Smith from ITE Group, Andrew Strachan from Art Basel Hong Kong, Jimé Essink of UBM Asia, Joon-How Loy from IMPACT Exhibition Management and Michael Kruppe from Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre and many more.
Along with the seminar, UFI organized several days of meetings and activities in Hong Kong. The program included UFI’s first-ever, sold-out Sustainable Development Focus Meeting.
More than 100 delegates met to hear speakers including Kevin Teng, Director of Sustainability at Marina Bay Sands; Dianne Young, CEO of the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto and Fiona Pelham, Managing Director of Positive Impact, a U.K.-based non-profit focused on sustainable event practices.
Three other meetings were held during the week: the inaugural Asia CEO Think Tank meeting, an UFI members’ meeting of its Asia Pacific Chapter, as well as an Association’s Committee Meeting.
There were plenty of networking opportunities with a Welcome Reception held on Thursday evening at the HKCEC as well as Business Lunch to close the week’s activities on Friday.
Paul Woodward, UFI’s managing director, said, “It is gratifying to see so many senior exhibition industry representatives from across Asia supporting UFI’s most important event in the region. The scale of this week’s seminar in Hong Kong is a testament to the strength of the industry in Asia.
Approximately one third of UFI’s global membership is now located in this region, with more than 220 members across 15 Asian markets. UFI looks forward to building on this track record of growth and success in the decade ahead.”
Kenneth Wong, general manager, MICE & Cruise of HKTB, said, “HKTB is honored to co-host the 10th UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2015. Hong Kong has long been a leading market for exhibitions in Asia and we are pleased to have the opportunity to showcase Hong Kong’s world-class infrastructure and service capabilities to exhibition industry leaders from around the region. Congratulations to UFI on the 10th edition of this important industry event and we look forward to another successful decade of success and growth.”
Javed Khan, chairman of HKECIA, said, “From the beginning, HKECIA has been a strong and enthusiastic support of UFI’s activities in Asia. Over the past decade, we have watched UFI’s membership in Asia expand year after year. HKECIA is immensely pleased to have played a role in co-hosting this record-breaking Open Seminar – with more than 300 exhibition industry leaders joining us in Hong Kong this week to celebrate the success of this seminar.”
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