(Bloomberg) -- The unrest in Hong Kong is prompting businesses to relocate conferences and other major meetings to locations such as Thailand and Singapore, according to hotel-industry billionaire William Heinecke.
“Some conferences have been canceled in Hong Kong and moved,” Heinecke, the chief executive officer of Bangkok-listed Minor International Pcl, said in an interview Wednesday.
Timeline: How Months of Protests Have Unfolded in Hong Kong
Heinecke said the trend is “significant” and that it's helping offset the slowdown in Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand. China is the key source of visitors to the Southeast Asian nation, whose economy has slowed on moderating tourism and exports.
“If the protests in Hong Kong persist, more tourists could opt to visit Thailand instead, benefiting hoteliers such as Minor,” said Maria Lapiz, managing director at Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) Pcl in Bangkok.
Hong Kong's economy, squeezed by the protests and the U.S.-China trade war, is on the cusp of recession.
To contact the reporter on this story: Natnicha Chuwiruch in Bangkok at nchuwiruch@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sunil Jagtiani at sjagtiani@bloomberg.net, Margo Towie
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