Countdown to Hong Kong wine fair

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s (HKTDC) third Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair will open its doors next Thursday.

As Hong Kong becomes increasingly prominent in the Asian world as a wine hub, especially for mainland China, the aim of the fair is to provide a showcase for products and services concerned with the production and distribution of alcoholic drinks, wine education and wine investment and wine tourism.

According to HKTDC, China and Hong Kong account for 60% of the Asian fine wine market, which is expected to be worth US$870 million (£556m) within the next decade. Last year alone wine imports to Hong Kong totalled $500m, a 40% increase on 2008, which itself saw an 80% increase in imports following the abolition of tax and duty on wine that year. Within the first five months of 2010 wine imports were valued at $316.4m, up 79% over the same period in 2009.

Already, nearly 40% of investment wines stored in the UK, nearly 100m cases, belong to Chinese and Hong Kong investors.

The fair takes place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and hopes to build on last year’s success.

The 2009 fair was a huge leap forward from the inaugural event in 2008, with exhibitor numbers doubling to 525 from 34 regions and countries spread over 13,090 square metres. Trade visitors numbered over 8,000 and visitor numbers also reached around 12,000, an increase of 36%, representing 62 different nations.

The first two days of the fair (4-5 November) are open exclusively to the trade. Opening hours are 10.30am to 7.30pm.

The public will be admitted on the final day (6 November) with the closing time reduced to 5pm. Admission fee for visitors is HK$200 (£16.74) per person.

the drinks business team will be reporting live from the fair next week.

db team, 28.10.2010