2023-08-09 23:44:53
The book fair ended last month, and the per capita consumption of visitors this year was 872 yuan. According to the statistics of the Trade Development Council, the annual expenditure of visitors to buy printed books outside the book fair has shown a downward trend, from 953 yuan in 2016 to 382 yuan this year. RMB, spending less than 400 RMB on books for two consecutive years. Huang Wenxuan, manager of Hunter Bookstore, believes that the data shows that “heavy reading” book fans no longer go to the book fair, but choose more independent bookstores, which is believed to be related to the lack of new and topical books at the book fair. Li Weirong, CEO of Skylight Cultural Group and Skylight Publishing House, believes that the book fair attracts more customers who usually buy less books, and the closure of bookstores under the epidemic has reduced the daily book purchases of book fans.Reporter: Zeng Weilong
The HKTDC interviews book fair visitors every year to learn regarding their book-buying habits, and finds that the per capita consumption of this year’s book fair is 872 yuan. Looking through the data over the years, this year’s consumption is similar to that of recent years, ranging from the highest consumption in recent years of 902 yuan in 2016 to the lowest consumption in recent years of 812 yuan in 2017; but if only the average book purchase expenditure of visitors outside the book fair in the past year is calculated , In 2016, an average of 953 yuan was spent on buying books per year, and the relevant expenditure dropped sharply to 445 yuan in 2021, and fell below the 400 yuan mark to a new low of 359 yuan in 2022; Outside the book fair, spend less than 400 yuan to buy books.
The average time spent reading printed books by interviewees in the past month was 16 hours, a sharp drop of 3 hours from 19 hours last year. It has also fallen below 20 hours for two consecutive years, lower than 24 hours in 2016. The average time spent reading e-books in the past month was 9 hours, a sharp drop of 10 hours from 19 hours last year; it was also lower than the 22 hours in 2017.
Book Fair 2023
The book fair lacks topic books and new books
Huang Wenxuan, the manager of Hunter Bookstore who held the “Hong Kong Small Publishing Sales Market and Private Bookstore Outlet” during the book fair this year, said that from the above figures and exchanges with colleagues, many heavy-reading book fans did not go to the book fair. Topic books are related to new books, and the book fair has a lot of censorship, so there are fewer choices at the book fair. The reason why the book fair is not allowed” and cited as examples that the bookstore’s popular “Hong Kong Diary”, “Memoirs of a Loser” and other Hong Kong research books are difficult to find at the book fair, so readers turned to independent bookstores, “People who read books I don’t deliberately go to the book fair, many customers said that there is nothing good regarding the book fair.”
She believes that as book prices become more and more expensive, the actual daily book purchases of visitors are less than the data reflect. She believes that book fairs are increasingly abandoned by serious book fans. It is expected that the gap between independent bookstores and mainstream bookstores will become wider and wider.
Many parents entered the venue to buy supplementary exercises
Peng Zhiming, the president of Cihuatang, believes that the Hong Kong Book Fair is seriously aging. Under the control of the National Security Law and ideology, the freedom of the press is affected. The consumption of the book fair is mainly supported by parents buying supplementary homework for their children. The figures for miscellaneous books and supplementary homework are not separated…Many parents wait for the price reduction in the second half of the book fair to buy first, while young readers turn to independent bookstores. Book Fair”. He also revealed that many small and medium-sized booksellers saw a drop in business at this year’s book fair, and the sales of booksellers selling children’s books fell by 21%.
Li Weirong, CEO of Skylight Culture Group and Skylight Publishing House, said that the book fair attracts readers who usually seldom buy books. They may buy a year’s worth of books at the book fair. After three years of the epidemic, many bookstores have closed or reduced their stores As a result, the flow of people in physical bookstores has not yet recovered, reducing the number of readers who buy books on a daily basis.
He pointed out that the book market was affected by the epidemic and immigration, and publishers did not dare to invest too much. As a result, the number of new books published this year decreased, making this year’s book fair less attractive than before. However, this year’s book fair is indeed “prosperous but not prosperous”. However, the group’s turnover still increased by regarding 10% year-on-year.
HKTDC: Continue to explore different forms and methods of organizing book fairs
The HKTDC replied that the Hong Kong Book Fair attracts one million visitors each year, which is the highest among all book fairs in terms of number of people; the conference will continue to explore different forms and methods for organizing the book fair.
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