Key market summary : China China is the largest trade fair market in Asia and in 2020 it was one of the best performers as net space sold dropped less than the regional average of 63 %. In 2020 , China ’ s trade fair market was the first to close and the first to re-open . Events in China were cancelled from late January to late June 2020 .
From July 2020 , trade fairs in China ran for the rest of 2020 with few restrictions . The story was similarly positive in the first half of 2021 . Events went ahead , albeit without international participation .
In the summer of 2021 , Chinese authorities began halting most events . As a result , the outlook is uncertain and that is putting the industry ’ s recovery at risk . Net space sold in China in 2022 could be down anywhere from 25 % to 50 %+ ( vs . 2019 ), depending on the actions of the Chinese authorities . And international participation at Chinese events remains highly unlikely for most of 2022 .
Japan The trade fair market in Japan was hit by Covid lockdowns , related mass gathering restrictions , closed international borders and the Tokyo Summer Olympics . The end result was a 77 % drop in 2020 compared with 2019 in Asia ’ s second-largest and perennially slow-growth market .
In 2021 , events restarted , picking-up steam after the Olympics . By the fourth quarter of 2021 , events were running quite well and mostly restriction-free - although mandatory quarantine requirements were still in place for international visitors . Barring a new outbreak or new virus variant , 2022 could be a solid recovery year in
Japan with net space sold down just 20 % to 30 % compared with 2019 .
India The region ’ s third largest trade fair market in 2019 posted an estimated 60 % drop in net space sold in 2020 compared with 2019 . By the summer of 2021 , India , which had suffered bad numbers in the initial Covid outbreak had things reasonably under control and events were cautiously restarted . In 2022 , the best-case scenario is probably a drop of 20 % to 30 % compared with 2019 . International visitors may be slow to return , but new venue capacity should provide a boost to numbers .
Korea BSG estimates that Korea ’ s market was down 50 % in 2020 compared with 2019 . The country did better managing Covid in 2020 than it did in 2021 . Since summer 2021 , case
Below : Table 2 : Number of venues & total capacity in Asia , end 2021 numbers have been rising .
Korean events have been permitted to go ahead , however , although international participation has not yet resumed . 2022 will likely be down 30 % or more compared with 2019 .
Hong Kong This market has had a rough time . Events in the second half of 2019 were impacted by political protests , then Covid arrived in January 2020 .
The city ’ s borders have effectively been closed since March 2020 and Hong Kong may not open again for business until the end of 2022 .
Net space sold in Hong Kong was down 94 % in 2020 ( vs . 2019 ) and sadly , the numbers in 2021 will be the same . In 2022 , BSG estimates that , at best , net space will be down 50 % - and at worst , it could be another devastating year with a possible decline of over 90 %.
Country / Region 2021 Total Gross indoor size ( m2 ) No . of centres China 10,222,445 215 Japan 454,529 15 India 398,780 16 Korea 317,829 17 Thailand 238,552 9 Singapore 219,970 4 Australia 205,997 12 Taiwan 151,298 5 Hong Kong 149,820 2 Malaysia 140,648 7 Indonesia 135,284 10 Macau 76,715 2 Pakistan 37,191 2 Philippines 36,635 5 Vietnam 22,278 3 Myanmar 15,505 5 Cambodia 11,156 2 Total 12,834,631 331
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