THE year was 1929, in Hangzhou. Never were there so many people in the city, not to mention the numerous Western faces. It was all because the four-month-long West Lake Expo was showcasing more than 140,000 examples of modern technology.

All the inns were occupied by visitors from home and abroad, and so were restaurants. The gala was viewed as the beginning of China’s MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry, and the city of Hangzhou, suddenly was under a world spotlight.

However, for decades, the gala stood alone. Only in the 1980s did the government decide to take the idea up again for its tourism benefits.

The expo involved much more than tourism, however, which the government came to realize.

“To maximize Hangzhou’s cultural and natural resources, to develop the service industry, to promote Hangzhou’s image, to get the city’s MICE started ... are the aims of the new West Lake Expo,” according to the Overall Planning of 2000 West Lake Expo document.

It took 71 years for the Second West Lake Expo to blossom. Since then, it has become an annual event, and the MICE sector is one of the areas that has seen the biggest benefits.

Before 2000, Hangzhou had fewer than 30 enterprises dedicated to MICE, but that number had rocketed to around 1,400 MICE events in the West Lake area by 2013, with a transaction volume of 171 billion yuan (US$27.3 billion) between 2000 and 2013. Those events also have introduced foreign investment of more than US$12 billion, and domestic investment of more than 176 billion yuan.

From B1

The West Lake Expo every year raises the city’s GDP about 0.5 percentage points, according to local government. Local industries driven by the gala include commerce, catering, transportation, telecommunications, hotels, entertainment, advertising, printing and logistics.

The expo is held for one very intensive month in the fall every year, but hundreds of MICE programs held throughout the year in Hangzhou have a connection to it.

Not too many exhibitions or conventions are that effective.

“In the country, many exhibitions and expos are formalistic, and spend a lot for little gain,” said Lu Xiao, deputy dean of the MICE Management Department of Shanghai Normal University. He said studies show that every year around the country, more than 70 billion yuan is spent on holding exhibitions and festivals, including about 45 billion yuan from government.

Hangzhou’s West Lake Expo, however, “achieved profitability years ago, and also makes money for its participants and other industries,” said Jin Zhongwei, director of the Planning and Communication Department of the Organizing Committee of the Hangzhou West Lake International Expo.

The secret is “marketization.”

“Local government constantly emphasizes that the expo is an industry that requires us to obey market rules,” said Ye Min, director of the Organizing Committee of the Hangzhou West Lake International Expo.

From 2000 to 2006, the average increase in transaction volumes was 9.9 percent, but from 2007 to 2010, it was 19.1 percent, records show.

No boundaries

An interpretation of “marketization” is to have no boundary walls. All individuals, organizations and enterprises are welcome to bring opinions and suggestions to the expo, and to be included in the expo as a visitor, participant, organizer or sponsor.

“The principle of ‘no boundary wall’ opens our minds, and proves the expo’s flexibility,” Ye said.

Marketization also boosts the expo’s internationalism.

In 2008, the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations was a cosponsor, the first international organization invited to be the exclusive cosponsor of the West Lake Expo.

Since then, guests of the expo have included the World Leisure Organization, International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts, Pacific Asia Travel Association, and International Congress and Convention Association.

During the 2012 West Lake Expo, the number of international programs accounted for more than 55 percent of all programs participating. And foreign exhibitors accounted for 23.9 percent of all booths last year.

“The best part of having no boundaries is that the organizers have access to all the resources they need,” Jin said.

“For example, they can connect international MICE organizations, introduce international MICE brands, and invite MICE companies to plan programs,” he said.

Important tool

Hangzhou was anticipated to be a MICE city ever since the second West Lake Expo was founded. In other words, the West Lake Expo is a part of the city brand.

“The expo lasts for a month every year, but developing the city’s potential is constant work,” Ye said, adding the expo is an important way to promote the city.

Linkages are easy to trace. In 2007, the local government decided to name Hangzhou the “City of Quality of Life,” while that year, the West Lake Expo made its theme “Harmonious West Lake, High-quality Hangzhou.”

Putting words into action, since 2007 Hangzhou, along with Huzhou, Jiaxing and Shaoxing, started to outline a Metropolitan Coordinating Region centered in Hangzhou, so the four cities could cooperate on issues such as construction, transportation, markets and industry.

In 2008, Anji County of Huzhou City became a sub-venue of the West Lake Expo, the first of its kind in the expo’s history. In 2009, Shangyu District of Shaoxing, Zhuji City of Shaoxing, and Deqing County of Huzhou were all included as sub-venues.

“West Lake Expo not only is the leader of Hangzhou’s MICE industry, it also leads industry in the Metropolitan Coordinating Region,” said Hui Xiuqin, deputy director of the organizing committee.

“It is a mission of West Lake Expo to gather resources and lead the MICE industry of Zhejiang Province,” she added.

In 2010, the Yangtze River Delta Region Plan of the central government called Hangzhou an “important international tourism and leisure center.” Since then, the West Lake Expo has expanded its influence to nearby Shanghai and Jiangsu Province and beyond.

In 2011, Fengjing Ancient Town in Shanghai became a sub-venue of the expo, and a year later, Kunshan in Jiangsu Province and Huizhou in Anhui Province also were involved.

“West Lake Expo is like a magnifier of the city brand, also a booster of city development,” Ye said.