Flying Solo in Hong Kong

Few exhibition spaces around the world are as visually stunning as the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Expansive sweeps of curved glass mean that visitors are rarely out of sight of the misty skyline and the ferries plying the harbor. The Grand Hall, with its plush carpeting and soaring dome of gleaming wood, metal, and light, seems more suited to symphony orchestras than rows of trade show booths.

But what was happening there this spring was more important than the beautiful backdrop. In late April, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) split the combined gifts and housewares fair it established in 1986 into two separate shows running in consecutive weeks. The newly independent Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair, striking out on its own, included a new Hall of Fine Designs and new product category sections such as Ceramic Gifts, Silverware, and Fashion Jewelry & Accessories. By creating two separate shows, the organizers were able to give buyers a more focused shopping experience and make room for roughly 1,500 new exhibitors. The two shows attracted about 78,300 buyers and 4,700 exhibitors (a 43 percent increase and a 30 percent increase, respectively). The gift fair alone attracted some 2,800 exhibitors (700 of them new), together with roughly 51,600 buyers.

The sheer number of attendees was evident to the casual observer: It seemed that every aisle in every hall was jammed from the beginning of the show to its conclusion four days later. And the large number of booths overflowing into an atrium area bore witness to the fact that the show could support yet more expansion. In fact, there was already a waiting list for exhibitors, and HKTDC officials are hoping to be able to build some basement space or gain permission from the government to extend the convention center even farther out into the harbor.

The first Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair was a truly international undertaking, with 54 percent of the buyers coming from outside Hong Kong. As an added incentive, the HKTDC organizers had timed their show to coincide with the Canton Fair, a consumer products export convention in nearby Guangzhou, China. Because, let's face it, Asia is a considerable schlep for an American gift executive, and anything that will make that journey more efficient and productive is welcome.

Aside from the 20-odd-hour plane trip, Americans considering doing business in Asia may be put off by the notorious copyright violations in the area. If you attend as a manufacturer, how will you know that your prized products won't be translated into cheap knockoffs by a local company? As a buyer, how will you know whether the product you're buying is original? To address these concerns, HKTDC has established a thorough process for dealing with intellectual property violations. The organizers have a team of lawyers on site, so that exhibitors who believe that a competitor's product is a rip-off of their own can file a complaint. The offending company is asked to fill out forms and, if possible, to remove the item from its display until the matter is settled legally. If the company is later convicted of a copyright crime, or if it fails to be cooperative during the investigation, it will be banned from exhibiting again. "We understand that we have to do this for the Hong Kong economy to grow," explained senior exhibitions manager Anne Chick.

Naturally, there were other enticements to the fair besides the organizers' scrupulous copyright protection efforts. The new Hall of Fine Designs was truly a cut above the rest of the show, which in some places tended toward inexpensive pens and trinkets. The booth of the Oriental Home Gallery contained appealing displays of pastel candles inlaid with gilt Indian designs. Hong Kong-based Fleming International was displaying a new line of shallow trays and vases in luscious deep purples, yellows, and umbers. Although made of translucent resin, they had a texture reminiscent of nature — the soft undulations of driftwood, for example. Fleming marketing director Vincent Wong explained that the line was created in hopes of attracting high-end retailers and cutting out the middleman.

Also a real treasure were the Thailand, Indonesia, and India pavilions. These distinctive resources, richer and deeper than one could find at a U.S. gift show, were a profusion of handmade crafts. The Thai section was strong in natural woods in solid forms, the Indonesian section contained intricate embroidered textile products such as purses and shawls, and the Indian section was an explosion of beading, on everything from handbags and picture frames to lamps and candle accessories. For example, A.N.S. of India was showing off deep plush pillows made of velvet and beads, in amber, brown, and russet tones. At the booth of the United Arts Company of Thailand, unfinished wood vases with batik-style patterns and black tasseled boxes with gilt motifs were among the highlights. And the Arif Thailand Company displayed a nice collection of rough-textured, unfinished ceramic plaques and candle stands bearing images of elephants and the Buddha.

In short, this first outing of the fair was a resounding success, offering a selection of riches from the Asian region that couldn't be found anywhere else.

The next Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair will be April 23–26, 2002.