Food&HotelAsia2008 to play a pivotal role in Asia’s growing food and hospitality industries

FHA2008 (Food&HotelAsia2008) Asia’s largest international food and hospitality trade event, is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in contributing to Asia’s growing food and hospitality industries.

Returning for its 16th showing from 22 – 25 April 2008, FHA2008 will spread across 70,000 square metres of exhibition space (seven halls) of the Singapore Expo to host a network of 3,30 international exhibiting companies from 60 countries and 40 international group pavilions on the exhibition floor. It is expected to welcome over 38,500 trade buyers from 80 countries/regions.

The global hotel industry has enjoyed a fruitful year in 2007, according to the HotelBenchmark™ Survey by Deloitte. All regions – Asia-Pacific, Central and South America, Europe and the Middle East – are not only celebrating double-digit growth in revenue per available room, but also in average room rates.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen a 12.7 percent growth, driven by business boom, rising investment opportunities by international chains, as well as the global budget airline phenomenon. Asia’s hospitality sector is actively gearing up to provide more hotel rooms and improve its food and hospitality infrastructure and facilities in order to meet the rising demands of this growing industry.

With an economy that concentrates on agricultural production, Thailand ranks among the top of the world’s food producing countries. Its 2007 food exports increased by 7.8 percent over 2006, to US$10.3 billion, and the figure is expected to grow by 10 percent in 2008.

The country is presently one of the world’s biggest seafood producers, the world’s third largest seafood exporter, and Asia’s biggest exporter of processed seafood. The outlook for Thailand’s food export industry continues to improve, with significant potential for increasing market share.

Thailand is also venturing into the world’s lucrative US$590 billion halal and kosher markets. Thailand exports of halal-label food items amounted to US$330 million in 2006, less than 0.05 percent of the global halal demand. As the world’s 12th largest food exporter, it has a huge potential to further increase its share of the halal market.

With its strong line-up of a broad range of products and solutions, FHA2008 will present international buyers and sellers with an excellent platform to converge and engage. The event has also established itself as the industry’s choice sourcing ground, providing international buyers direct access to seek latest products, services and technological solutions that meet their needs.

International buyers will have an opportunity to acquire intelligence on the latest industry trends and issues, reinforce existing contacts while simultaneously establish new alliances with the business community and key decision makers - all on one platform.

FHA2008 will incorporate several specialised events - FoodAsia, Wines&SpiritsAsia, Bakery&Pastry, HotelAsia, HospitalityStyleAsia, HospitalityTechnology - distinctively tailored for the increasingly sophisticated needs of the region’s food and hospitality industries.

Adding to the buzz are world-class competitions held on the exhibition grounds, including the FHA2008 Culinary Challenge; the FHA2008 Imperial Challenge; the inaugural Asia Barista Championship; the Asian Pastry Cup and the FHA2008 Wine&SpiritsAsia Challenge.

FHA2008 will host the Asia Pacific Travel Catering conference and exhibition, held in conjunction with the show for the first time in Singapore. The Asia Pacific Travel Catering, supported exclusively by the world’s leading industry associations, International Travel Catering Association (ITCA) and the International Flight Services Association (IFSA), will serve as a unique international meeting point for buyers and sellers for the airline, rail and ferry catering sectors, and is positioned as the fastest entry point to the world’s fast growing travel market.

In addition, attendees can gain valuable market insight and participate in in-depth discussions through a host of interactive conferences, seminars and workshops held alongside the show, such as the Halal Trade Forum, the FHA Food Safety Forum, the Asian Club Managers’ Conference 2008 and the Asian Hospitality Finance and Technology Conference, and more.

“Judging from the success of the event over the past editions and buoyed by positive market sentiments, the show is poised to return with a stronger showing to meet the sourcing needs of Asia’s fast growing food and hospitality industries by serving as a gateway for international buyers to enter and tap into the booming Asian F&B and hospitality markets, seek latest industry intelligence, products and services, network with the business community, and meet key decision markers at one place,” said Ms. Susan Tan, Director of Marketing Services at Singapore Exhibition Services.

FHA2006 beat strong competition to triumph in the Exhibition of The Year category of the first Singapore Business Events Awards (SBEA) organised by the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), organiser of FHA2006, was conferred the award at the SBEA 2006 awards ceremony held on 2 August 2007.