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Final-day discounts drew crowds to the Hong Kong Book Fair on Tuesday, but exhibitors said sales remained disappointing as the seven-day event came to a close.
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The 36th edition of the annual fair opened at 9am on its final day and was scheduled to close at 5pm.
Exhibitors across the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre offered steep discounts to attract last-minute shoppers, with signs advertising “70 percent off storewide,” “buy one, get one free” and books priced at HK$10 each.
Foot traffic picked up by noon, with many visitors carrying trolleys and large bags as they searched for bargains.
Among them was a Form 4 student who arrived early to buy Chinese-language and economics exercise books in the hope of improving his grades.
Some incoming university students filled their bags with English-language titles to improve their language skills, while others bought books on the humanities and psychology to broaden their knowledge beyond their chosen fields of study.
While many parents purchased exercise books, one mother opted for comics for her eight-year-old son, saying that cultivating a love of reading was more important than placing him under academic pressure.
Her son held up a copy of Captain Tsubasa, saying picture books were easier to understand.
Despite the final-day crowds, several exhibitors said they had begun offering discounts a day earlier after both visitor numbers and revenue fell by between 5 and 10 percent compared with last year.
Some publishers said foot traffic was similar to the previous year, but fewer visitors were making purchases. One vendor reported a year-on-year sales decline of about 40 percent.
The vendor said poor weather might have contributed to the drop but believed other factors would also need to be reviewed.
To reach younger readers, the publisher hired interns to promote its books on social media and plans to continue publicizing new titles and events online.
Themed “Cultural Legacy, Joyful Journeys,” this year’s fair featured about 770 exhibitors from nearly 30 countries and regions.
