Macau's meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector reported mostly negative figures last year, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) last week.
The number of participants in meetings and conferences dropped 1.4 percent year-on-year to 292,000, "as a consequence of a notable decline in participants in the second quarter," a DSEC statement said.
The total floor area used for the meetings and conferences decreased 29.8 percent to 1.19 million square metres. Their average duration rose 0.1 day to 1.5 days.
The number of exhibition attendees dropped 4.3 percent to 1.69 million. The exhibitions occupied a total floor area of 370,000 square metres, a growth of 6.4 percent, while their average duration remained unchanged year-on-year at 3.4 days.
The number of participants in incentives totalled 22,000 and the total floor area used was 151,000 square metres, representing a "sizable" reduction of 60.2 percent and 61.2 percent respectively, the bureau pointed out. However, incentives' average duration grew 0.4 days to three days.
The statement quoted data provided by the organisers of 56 exhibition last year, according to which the events, after deducting expenditure and financial support from the government and other entities, recorded a loss of 36.57 million patacas. In 2018, the loss stood at 29.15 million patacas.
