Corona Virus - Hong Kong Show

[LondonPearl]

The latest news looks rather bleak. All travel from the pearl farming areas of China to Hong Kong has been banned. There are over 80 confirmed cases in the Chinese pearl farming areas. Hong Kong has also severely restricted all travel from China to Hong Kong. As a long term exhibitor at the March show I want to exhibit but am more than concerned. What do you hear? Would you exhibit?

 

[seoulite]

I live in Korea (4 confirmed cases here) and I was planning to go to hk beginning of March for personal reasons but cancelled due to corona virus.
not sure about other areas of the world, but this part of the world now wears mask at work and outside and started to avoid any places with many ppl including the gym, swimming pool, public libraries.
masks are sold out at pharmarcies and airlines/hotels cancels without any penalties upto next month.
not sure how it would play out in March ..but as it was lunar new years holiday and millions travelled last/this week, We are worried...
if anyone comes to asia, I would recommend to bring many masks and hand sanitizers as it might be difficult to buy them.
they already tripled the price (if anyone is lucky finding them now)
I just came back from japan last night and saw Chinese tourists buying boxes of masks in Tokyo last weekend.

 

[pattye]

Thank you for the report, Seoulite, a serious illness for sure.

 

[Charlotta]

Much can happen in a month. In sweden the they advise against using those loose fitting masks, they could accually spread virus even quicker snd do not stop airborn virus. Apparantly one has to use another kind of mask, I don't know what they are called but they look harder.

 

[KarinK]

Latest is that airlines are cancelling flights to China.

 

[Katbran]

My son Nick has been travelling for the past 4 months , Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. They are coming back early due to all the busloads of Chinese tourists in the main cities. He spoke with a fellow from the Aus embassy and he said they were really annoyed that planeloads of tourists from the 'restricted' areas are still arriving.

I had planned to go but I must admit that given the extremely crowded halls and that the majority of visitors are mainland Chinese I'm having second thoughts.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Katbran, you should come to Tucson!

 

[nnguye20]

As there will be opportunities in the future, I think you shouldn't travel to China or any Southeast Asian countries at the moment. While the infected cases in other countries are quite low (5 cases in Vietnam, 10 cases in Hongkong, 13 cases in Singapore, etc.), there is a significant higher chance that you will be infected in mainland China (over 7,000 infected cases and 170 deaths), and transportation and border health inspection can be a huge pain.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/29/asia/coronavirus-cases-worldwide-intl-hnk/index.html

 

[Katbran]

HK is trying to close it's borders, so far only some have closed and some flights from the mainland cancelled as is the fast train. . While they have 10 confirmed cases they have over 600 others that meet the criteria but not confirmed.

Take your own masks as you probably won't get one there...they are lined up at the ********.

 

[Katbran]

Katbran, you should come to Tucson!

I'd better run to the airport !!

 

[KarinK]

From what I am reading masks don't help a whole lot. If you are already infected, it can help to keep down the risk of you infecting others (with whatever virus makes you sneeze and cough) but the best guard should be to wash your hands very well and often and not touch your face.

 

[echolovesyou]

with the current situation not getting any better, I wonder if the show will be cancelled.

 

[Cees]

I am in Bangkok and wearing a mask for the airquality which is very bad and the government is not doing anything.
The Chinese here on holidays for Chinese New Year will be picked up by Chinese mainland airlines.
I am confident that for the countries around China in month the situation is a lot better.
Most infected do not die also.

 

[LondonPearl]

The March shows have now been postponed to the 18th to 21st of May. Both shows will be held simultaneously at the Airport venue. The real remaining questions are ... will the customers come and will the Virus be a thing of the past by May....?

 

[CortezPearls]

What I heard at the Tucson Gem Show -from vendors that do the HK show, of course- is that they will not do the show, some are saying they will wait until September and others say they will not do it this 2020.

 

[Katbran]

I'm not surprised Douglas - you can't count on the virus being over by then . At the moment one of the concerns is actually getting out of HK as there is no telling if flights will be cancelled. Or if you have to go into quarantine after the flight. Lets hope this passes quickly but time will tell.

 

[LondonPearl]

The organisers of the Hong Kong show promised exhibitors that they would have new stand allocations for the May show before the 14th of February. To date the organisers have not done so. I strongly suspect that there will be no show in May. Who would go to Hong Kong even then? I think that going to Asia is off most people's agenda for a long while. The silver lining in the cloud is that we have become very busy with people flying in to see us in the UK.

 

[LondonPearl]

We have decided not to exhibit in the May or June show. I feel that the majority of customers will not come to Asia at least for the foreseeable future.

 

[pattye]

You have to do what you feel best for yourselves and your business. So many unknowns at this time.

 

[CortezPearls]

The HK Gem & Jewellery Fair goes Digital!!!
https://exhibitions.jewellerynet.com/9jg/

This means that they are not expecting going back to business as usual any time soon.

HONG KONG, 11 September 2020 – Informa Markets Jewellery and Atelier Technology jointly launched today Jewellery & Gem Digital World (J&G Digital World), the first in a series of virtual events that will bring the global jewellery marketplace right to your home.

Scheduled for 27 – 29 October, J&G Digital World will be live 24 hours a day during the event period with exhibitors’ individual team members having the flexibility of setting the time when they will be available to serve buyers. The platform is in English for the pilot event, with the Chinese-language interface and other enhanced features slated for release next year.

Trade buyer registration has commenced and will remain open until 29 October. A strict validation process is in place to ensure that only qualified and motivated buyers gain access to the virtual show, enhancing participants’ chances of networking success. Thousands of buyers and more than 800 jewellery suppliers are anticipated to participate in the pilot programme.

The result of a strategic cooperation between the world’s biggest jewellery fairs organiser and the leading technology provider in the jewellery supply chain, J&G Digital World serves as a digital extension of Jewellery & Gem WORLD Hong Kong (JGW) 2020 and is focused on capturing the real value of in-person events in a virtual setting. The Informa Markets Jewellery – Atelier collaboration will further gain momentum in 2021 with the launch of four more digital events in 2021, each with their own salient features and unique benefits for exhibitors and buyers.

“As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and the outlook for physical international trade shows remains uncertain, Jewellery & Gem WORLD Hong Kong 2020, the world’s biggest B2B jewellery marketplace, is pivoting to an online format this year through J&G Digital World. This digital event is optimised to spark genuine conversations, facilitate efficient digital product meetings, and ultimately, build business relationships, regardless of time zones and distance,” said David Bondi, Senior Vice President of Informa Markets in Asia.