Helping industry explore new markets, HKTDC fairs were held from 6- 9 Jan, 20. The smart and kidult toys are in demand in the market
January 13, 2020
The HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair and the HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products Fair, both organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), and the Hong Kong International Stationery Fair, organized by the HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, drew to a successful close. Together with the HKTDC Hong Kong International Licensing Show, which concluded on 8th Jan, 2020, the first four fairs of 2020 attracted close to 108,000 buyers from 130 countries and regions, helping the industry to identify new sources of customers.
More than 41,400 buyers attended the Toys & Games Fair, while close to 28,200 and over 17,800 buyers visited the Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair respectively. In addition, over 20,000 visitors attended the Licensing Show.
Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC, said: “In response to the recent social unrest in Hong Kong and external economic factors, the HKTDC has allocated more resources to invite quality buyers from around the world to source products in the city. More than 200 buying missions were organised to visit the Toys & Games Fair, Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair. The number of buyers from individual markets – including Israel, Russia, Turkey, Spain and Argentina – increased, helping the industry to explore new opportunities.” Mr Chau added that the sourcing activity at the fairs was buoyant, with smart products remaining popular among buyers. Toys and models targeted at the young-at-heart also attracted a lot of attention and brought new impetus to the market.
Smart products, models and figurines put Kidult World in limelight
This year’s fairs featured an assortment of new products from about 2,950 exhibitors. At the Toys & Games Fair, new exhibitor Hanwang Technology from Mainland China showcased its Bionic Flapping Wing RC Flying Bird − GoGoBird Series, integrating intelligent sensing technology and artificial intelligence, in the Smart-Tech Toys zone. Yingjian Liu, the company’s Chairman of the Board, said they met new distributors from Germany, Korea and the United States in the first four hours of the show, with each distributor confirming to buy several thousand pieces on the spot.
Kidult World also received positive responses from buyers. Leo Wong, Director of Bigboystoys Company from Hong Kong, said the company specialises in the design and production of licensed collectibles for characters such as Street Fighter, the King of Fighters and Ninja Turtles. “This is our third year participating in the Toys & Games Fair, which provides an important channel for us to find new distributors and wholesalers and to secure new orders,” Mr Wong said. “We have met with new buyers from Europe and the Middle East who are very interested in the King of Fighters figures. We will conclude orders with three or four serious buyers from Europe soon.”
Vibrant business and sourcing activity at fairs
Radek Ostrcil, owner of Czech Republic buyer Pyro & Art s.r.o., who was visiting the Toys & Games Fair for the first time, said the event offered a great choice of products. He found two potential suppliers for fireworks in the first two days of the fair. “Each year, I buy around USD 500,000 worth of fireworks. With the help of the HKTDC business-matching team, I will meet with more exhibitors and buy one container of fireworks.”
A new buyer at the Baby Products Fair, Kid’s Brasil is the biggest e-tailer of baby products in Brazil. Whelvis Cortes Naves, CEO and Co-founder of the company, said: “This is my first visit to the Hong Kong Baby Products Fair. I have found five new suppliers from Mainland China and will buy quality feeding and nursery items worth USD 200,000 from each of them. This has been a smooth and fruitful sourcing trip.”
Scott Wen, Manager of Mirage International Industries Inc from the US, said his company had participated at the Stationery Fair for 20 years because the visitors are all serious industry players. “The fair is an important promotional channel for us because we found all our biggest customers here over the years, making up around 40% of our annual revenue. This year, we are promoting eco-friendly products to meet demand from green consumers, attracting a lot of buyer enquiries from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Russia. We are happy with the results.”
Source: HKTDC
