Management Company Named for New Zhengzhou Center
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 5/29/2006
A private venue management company has won a 15-year contract to manage China's recently opened Zhengzhou Intl. Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Hong Kong-Shanghai Venue Management Zhengzhou will manage the $300 million state-owned Zhengzhou venue, which offers 70,000 square meters (753,400 square feet) of rentable space, including two exhibit halls totaling more than 30,000 sq. m. (323,000 sq. ft.) and 30,000 sq. m. of outdoor exhibition space.
The venue management company is a partnership between Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Venue Management China, a sister company of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, and the INTEX Shanghai venue. Cliff Wallace, managing director of the HKCEC, is chair of the joint venture, while INTEX Shanghai's Hugh Scrimgeour serves as vice chairman.
A company called Zhengzhou Intl. Convention and Exhibitions initially managed the venue, according to HKCEC spokeswoman Gloria Fong.
Since the Zhengzhou venue opened last October, the joint venture has worked with the interim company and provided professional advice on training, organizational development, business development, and design of signs and concession outlets, Fong said.
Wallace called the new facility the jewel in the crown of Zhengzhou's new city center. Zhengzhou is already a key trade and industrial hub for central China, he said, and the new facility has won praise for its architecture and functional design.
Wallace said the appointment of a veteran professional venue management company will ensure maximum marketing reach and help create a highly trained team. Andrew Garcia, the venue's general manager, will head a staff of about 120. He is a U.S. citizen who has opened several hotels in China.
