Events organiser Questex returns to Hong Kong for hospitality forum after 6 years

Questex picked Hong Kong as the venue for its yearly hospitality investment event, its top executive said, six years after closing down its office in the city and consolidating its operations in Singapore.

The organiser of events focused on industries like hospitality, information technology (IT), cybersecurity and digital transformation had its regional headquarters in Hong Kong for 12 years, employing about 30 staff. That was until 2018, when it consolidated its operations in Singapore due to “slowing business”, said Alexi Khajavi, the president for hospitality, travel and wellness at the New York-based company.

“Our plan is to continue to organise the event in Hong Kong, and we see this as a … decade-long investment,” Khajavi said on the sidelines of the inaugural International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) at the Regent Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

“We still believe that Hong Kong is a hub for the Asia market. It attracts both northern Asia and Southeast Asia,” he said.

Hong Kong lost some of its allure as a top regional event venue following anti-government protests in 2019. That was followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, when the city imposed some of the world’s strictest measures to control the spread of the virus.