Book fair draws in 990,000 as average spending rises

Kelly Kong

This year's Hong Kong Book Fair saw a similar attendance to last year with around 990,000 visitors, despite visitors and exhibitors finding the event less crowded.

The annual seven-day fair, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, concluded yesterday at 5pm.

The HKTDC said the fair "saw an enthusiastic response from the public," with the average spending per person increasing by 4.6 percent to HK$912 compared to 2023.

Some 760 exhibitors participated, including the concurrent HKTDC Hong Kong Sports and Leisure Expo and HKTDC World of Snack events.

"The Book Fair continued its tradition of bringing people together through literature, with seminars achieving remarkable popularity and attracting many visitors from mainland China," said HKTDC deputy executive director Sophia Chong Suk-fan.

"The concurrent Sports and Leisure Expo and World of Snacks also attracted visitors and helped to stimulate local consumption," Chong added.

According to a survey of over 820 visitors, fiction, novels, comics and children/youth books remained the most popular categories.

Some vendors offered discounts up to 35 percent, while others maintained regular prices as sales were similar to 2023.

Tsui Tsz-hoi, in charge of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups bookstore booth, reported a 10-year high in sales volume, with stationery items selling out on the third day.

"We did not reduce the price on the last day because most of our popular items have already sold out," he said.

"Stationery was sold out on the third day, accounting for 30 percent to 40 percent of our revenue."

However, a Rightman Publishing's salesman, Tse, said last year's business was better, noting fewer families but more mainland customers this year. Cosmos Books also saw a 10 percent drop in sales.

"We have more giveaways on the last day and our best-selling item is children science books," Tse said.

A visitor, Cheng, who spent around HK$2,000 on books about Hong Kong history, found fewer new releases and a generally scaled-down fair this year.

"I like to buy books about Hong Kong history. Only old books from last year can be found here, and there are no new books from this year," Cheng said.

Cheng said this year's book fair had fewer exhibitors and was scaled down.

Another visitor, Ng, said she spent HK$950 on her child's tutoring exercises.