Exhibitors at the Book Fair made a last-ditch effort to boost sales, offering additional discounts and promotions, as the annual event drew to a close on Tuesday afternoon.

The push on the last day came as the fair opened an hour earlier and ended later on Monday, 11pm, to make up for the sales hiatus as the city went into lockdown mode for Typhoon Wipha's passage on Sunday.

The fair organiser said, however, that the fair – held alongside the World of Snacks fair and the Sports and Leisure Expo – would close as usual at 5pm on Tuesday to allow for the transition to the next event scheduled for the Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Trade Development Council said it understood the impact of the typhoon on exhibitors and had done everything possible to help.

It also said total attendance for the storm-affected event reached 890,000, down 10 percent from last year.

Alva Au, director of Cosmos Books, said the publisher was offering special offers on certain books to try and make up for the weekend's business disruptions.

"Saturday and Sunday are the two days with the best sales at the book fair. And I don't think we can make up for the loss on Sunday," she said.

“I think [the drop in business] is about 20 to 30 percent.

“We offered 20 percent off at first. And today, we selected some special books and can offer 30 percent off. We hope that can attract more people.”

Major publishers like Commercial Press, Chung Hwa Book and Ming Pao also slashed prices on selected books to as low as HK$10 each.

There were also special offers like "HK$100 for 10 books" and extra discounts with more purchases, as vendors tried to sell as many books as they could.

The fair was fairly calm in the morning before crowds started forming in the afternoon looking for bargains.

A visitor, Kwok, revisited the fair and had plans to spend about HK$1,000.

“I came a few days ago and I had a great experience," she said. "I came back to find some discounted books.”

Another bookworm, Yu, who visited alone last week, returned with her son to let him experience the event, saying the additional discounts made her want to spend more.

“I returned to the same publisher to make purchases," she said.

"Previously, they offered about 20 to 30 percent off, but this time it’s up to 60 percent off. I’m buying books that were previously only on my wish list or under consideration. I have a budget of about HK$2,000 to HK$3,000 today.”
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Last updated: 2025-07-22 HKT 19:28