It’s raining cats and dogs for pet shows in Asia

With rising affluence in Asia, pet-themed events and exhibitions are showing a remarkable upward trend across the region. M&C Asia checks in with convention venues and exhibition organisers in Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong to report on the growing popularity of this phenomenon.

Thailand: Trade show expansion with paw-sitive demand

Over in Thailand, the 20-year-old Pet Expo Thailand has expanded into a trade show segment, Pet Expo Championship, which recently took place from 10-13 August 2023 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

This event has grown from 120 exhibitors in 2020 to 218 in 2023. Booth numbers have increased from 160 to 496 and visitor numbers have soared from 99,000 to 188,620 over the same period.

Its 2022 edition launched Petaverse, which sought to inject fun to the virtual world of pets, drawing product groups and service providers with innovative technology for pet care.

NCC, organiser of the event, joined forces with The Real One, an expert in digital technology development, which enabled visitors to go on a journey with their pets to explore the world of Buddyverse, the land of pet lovers, and to create an avatar for themselves to live digitally with their best friends, including dogs, cats and many other animals. Other experiential experiences included dress-up contests, photo-taking with celebrity pets, and playing Mini Games with many prizes for the winners.

Also featured were automatic toilets for cats, automatic dog and cat hair dryer room, pet massager, pet odour eliminator, pet robot toys to help relieve loneliness for absent owners, and a smart collar that measures a pet’s pulse, heartbeat, sleep quality, and body temperature.

Hong Kong: Purr-fect market with high cat ownership

Exhibition Group, organiser of Hong Kong Cat Expo 2023 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, drew over 130 exhibitors, 300 booths, and some 150,000 attendees during the recent event from 25-26 August.

Supported by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau's HK$1.4 billion (US$179,000) Incentive Scheme for Recurrent Exhibitions, Hong Kong Cat Expo 2023 claims to be Asia's largest cat-themed exhibition.

Organisers introduced innovative elements to the event by including a cat lover creative market, trendy cat playhouse, a cat art gallery with Eastern and Western artworks, and cat lover seminars hosted by "Cat is Cat". Social concerns were addressed with the Meow Dance Challenge charity event to support stray cat rescue and protection organisations.

Carl Wong, chairman of Exhibition Group, said, "Hong Kong's pet market is huge, particularly with over 100,000 households keeping cats. Recent surveys have shown that spending on cat care continues to grow, estimating the industry size at HK$1.8 billion. The market demand is strong. We will devote ourselves to promoting pet culture and industry development.”

Singapore: Pet events grow a bigger paw-print

Singapore’s largest pet fair by MP, PetExpo in April 2023, saw its own record showing of 33,000 visitors and close to 10,000 pets. The event took on bigger space this year with many new vendors and activities, occupying 10,000 sqm of exhibition space across Singapore Expo Hall 6. With strong support from the pet community and pet vendors, it has sustained year-on-year growth since its inception in 2014.

This year’s edition of PetExpo featured a common theme of improving the well-being of pets, and educating pet owners on how to do so. There were free pet health checks, more than 90 local and regional exhibitors, and specially-curated series of talks and workshops.

Pet groomers also competed for the top spot in the FCI Grooming Competition by The Singapore Kennel Club (SKC). Guests witnessed the colourful ensemble of shrimps competing in the Singapore Ornamental Shrimp Competition as well as the 4th Singapore Guppy Championship.

PetExpo, project director David Lim, said, “In previous editions, we saw a higher number of consumers looking for pet-related products. As such, we have increased the size of the show to include more products and services to meet today’s demand, while ensuring the well-being of pets is taken care of.”