The shopping, tourism and entertainment exhibition "Hong Kong GO Carnival 2022" organized by the Hong Kong Federation of Industry and Commerce was held at AsiaWorld-Expo from November 25 to 28. There were a number of Christmas special sales activities and exhibition areas themed on Hong Kong and Taiwan attractions , for citizens to check in and have fun.
On the third day of the exhibition, some exhibitors complained about the lack of crowds and loss of business, demanded a refund from the organizers, and staged a sit-in protest inside the exhibition hall.
The police said that they received a report from the organizer of the exhibition this afternoon. After the police arrived at the scene, eight exhibitors stayed on the stage to express their dissatisfaction because they were dissatisfied with the arrangement of the organizer.
The police continued to point out that since the scene was peaceful and there was no special accident, the incident was finally left to the organizer and exhibitors to resolve themselves, and the case was listed as a "dispute".
The police were also called to the scene yesterday.
A group of exhibitor representatives rushed to the ceremony stage twice to sit in protest
There were 12 representatives of exhibitors who agreed with the organizer to meet and talk at 12:00 noon, but the other party did not show up on time.
Until 2:25 p.m., the protesters began to forcibly board the stage where the middle school student debate competition was taking place, and were intercepted by security guards. Afterwards, five policemen arrived to mediate with the protesters, and the protesters then left the stage.
Some protesters pointed out that "if you don't have the receipt, you will never leave the venue", demanding that the organizers give them receipts and invoices for the participation fee, so as to apply for the government to provide half of the participation fee for the EMF "Marketing Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises".
Until 3:00 p.m., the sponsor still did not show up, and the protesters once again boarded the event stage and staged a sit-in protest. There were about 20 people.
At about 3:30 p.m., the person in charge of the organizer showed up, but did not have a face-to-face meeting with the protesters, and planned to leave the venue, but the protesters blocked him all the way.
Four deadly crimes for exhibitors: Promise and publicity are not in place
Some exhibitors even set up a WhatsApp group with more than 200 stall owners, and expressed various opinions, which were summarized into four major issues:
There are no free shuttle buses and shuttle buses in various districts;
The promised publicity is not in place and has not been seen on publicity vehicles in Hong Kong;
The exhibition has been postponed twice, from January 27th to 30th, and the merchant's refund request has been rejected;
Some stall owners can rent free or only need to pay 400 yuan rent, which is unfair to other stall owners who pay in full.
Seafood Exhibitors: The flow of people is only one-twentieth of that of the CIIE Shopping Festival
Mr. Chen, an exhibitor who sells seafood, described that the number of visitors to the exhibition was very low, which was far from that of the "2022 Industry Fair Shopping Festival" in September this year.
He pointed out that the business was very poor, "labor and rent will definitely lose." He rented four adjacent stalls, with a total daily rent of 17,000 yuan.
He pointed out that the organizer's publicity is insufficient, such as Facebook, YouTube and other websites, or there is no relevant publicity on the tourist bus; in addition, the AsiaWorld-Expo is located in a "remote" location, and the organizer has not provided a shuttle bus to the public, resulting in There is very little traffic.
Mr. Chen added that the organizer had claimed that it would use KOLs for publicity, but questioned that KOLs were too young and did not match the middle-aged and elderly customers he expected, and the publicity effect was not satisfactory.
He spent about 2 million yuan on purchases. He earned 20,000 yuan on the first day of the exhibition, 60,000 yuan on the second day, and only 3,000 yuan as of 12 noon today.
He believes that since the organizer has received government funding, it should "vomit back to the merchants and pass them on to the merchants reasonably."
Mr. Chen, the owner of the seafood stall, said that the business is very poor, "labor and rent will definitely lose."
(Photo by Hong Zhijing)
Tea Exhibitors: On the first day, only 10 people passed through the stalls and two orders were collected for a total of $160
Ms. Sun, an exhibitor who sells tea, said that on the first day of the exhibition, there were no more than 10 people passing by her stall, and there were only two transactions, with an income of 160 yuan; on the second day, there was only one transaction, with an income of 300 yuan.
She originally expected a daily turnover of about 15,000 to 20,000 yuan, but her income in recent days was less than 500 yuan.
She bought goods for about 500,000 yuan and rented a 3-meter-by-2-meter bunk. The four-day rent totaled 17,800 yuan.
Ms. Sun described the organizer's arrangement as a "big scam". For example, the other party had said that there would be a special car to pick up the event, but it did not.
She applied to participate in the exhibition as early as January last year, but the organizers continued to postpone it until November this year.
She once expressed the hope that the organizer would refund the participation fee, but the other party has not agreed for a long time.
Exhibitors patronize each other with few people
Jenny, an exhibitor who sells snacks, expects to promote her brand through the exhibition, but the flow of people at the exhibition is not as good as the organizer described, "like the flow of people at a trade fair and shopping festival."
She rented a shop, and she had to pay 17,800 yuan in rent, and the purchase cost was about tens of thousands of yuan. However, the business was bleak for several days, and she only earned more than 100 yuan a day.
He also pointed out that due to the lack of crowds, scenes of "stall owners patronizing each other" even appeared.
She revealed that the organizer had promised to provide shuttle buses in various districts to pick up citizens who went to the AsiaWorld-Expo to visit the exhibition, but in the end they did not provide it.
On behalf of other stall owners, she also negotiated with the organizer to refund their participation fees, but the other party refused to refund the money because "the conference spent a lot of money".
In addition, she also pointed out that some stall owners do not need to pay the booth rent, which is unfair to other stall owners who have paid tens of thousands of yuan in rent, and the organizer responded with the reason that "some rents cannot be rented out, so as to provide higher subsidies" .
The person in charge of the exhibition: the matter is handed over to the legal department
Zhang Weile, the person in charge of Hong Kong GO Carnival, retorted that the event was not without publicity. There were not only nearly a hundred reports on the Internet, but also advertisements on bus seats.
There was an allegation that the organizer had promised to have a free shuttle bus. He explained that the event was originally scheduled to be held in January this year. Due to the epidemic, it was postponed to November, and the transportation arrangements were also adjusted. It was not "promised not to do it."
As for some exhibitors who were accused of not having to pay participation fees, Zhang said that these exhibitors were subsidized by the Chamber of Commerce Fund, and they did not participate in the exhibition for free.
Zhang Weile also mentioned that he had discussed with 12 exhibitors last night to try to resolve the incident. During the period, the organizer proposed a plan, including measures such as exempting 1CBM logistics fees and exempting one warehouse rent, hoping to relieve the pressure on exhibitors. Everyone has agreed that the organizer will send a message to all exhibitors late at night, indicating that if exhibitors need help with the measures of the plan, they can reply before 11:00 this morning for registration.
Cheung Wai Lok pointed out that during the discussion process, the atmosphere was considered peaceful, and he was puzzled why the exhibitors would accuse the organizers to the media this morning, and also called on other stall owners to strike, and then interrupted the sit-in protest.
He said that the Chamber of Commerce has now decided to deal with it seriously and will hand over the matter to the legal department of the Chamber.
However, he indicated that the plan proposed earlier is still valid, and if exhibitors need it, they can reply to the SMS application before 12 noon tomorrow.
The police replied that at 2:22 this afternoon, they received a report from the organizer of the exhibition. After the police arrived at the scene, eight exhibitors stayed on the stage to express their dissatisfaction because they were dissatisfied with the arrangement of the organizer.
The police continued to point out that since the scene was peaceful and there was no special accident, the incident was finally left to the organizer and exhibitors to resolve themselves, and the case was listed as a "dispute".
Industrial Exhibition Shopping Festival｜In September, AsiaWorld-Expo launched 10% off products during the four-day exhibition period. The sales volume is expected to be 80 million yuan to travel with peace of mind. "Yellow Code"｜Another 49 people were confirmed by home medical surveillance, accounting for 20% of the imported cases. All rights and interests of AsiaWorld-Expo are transferred to AsiaWorld-Expo The expansion of the Airport Authority can increase the exhibition area by 100,000 square meters
