About 60 publishers refused to leave at the close of the seven-day Hong Kong Book Fair on Tuesday, and continued to sell books until 8 pm after the 5 pm closing time.

The publishers claim they suffered severe losses from lost business, because the book fair's sponsor, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), decided to end the book fair earlier before the scheduled time at 10pm on Monday due to the typhoon Vicente.

The publishers, who claimed Monday's storm cost them several hours of peak selling time, had demanded the book fair be extended to 8 pm on Tuesday, and blamed the HKTDC for stopping selling the tickets hours before the typhoon signal was issued. The fair was closed early at 5:45 pm on Monday until 12: 10 on Tuesday, due to the typhoon.

Former chairman of the Hong Kong SME Publication Association Limited Kwong Wing-hyun said the HKTDC stopped selling tickets to the book fair two hours before the No 8 signal was hoisted and started the evacuation immediately after the signal was issued. Kwong said, according to the directions given to the publisher, the organizer must clear the venue within two hours after the signal was issued.

The HKTDC, said the measures were taken inconsideration of the safety of readers and the directions given to the publishers have clearly stated that the book fair will be ended as the typhoon signal is issued.

Li Fuk-nam, sales supervisor of the distribution division of Cosmos Books, a major local publisher, said the typhoon on Monday cost the publishers about a half day and a two-thirds drop in sales, compared to same day last year. Li said the drop off was the result of Monday's closure at the peak time of around 6 pm. Li, who has attended every book fair since the first one in 1990, criticized the HKTDC, saying the trade group had handled the typhoon crisis badly. He called this year's book fair the worst.

Li said the evacuation of the center on Monday was a bit chaotic, pointing out there was only one exit open even during an urgent situation.

Publishers from Taiwan complained their needs were neglected.

Zhou Rui-ming, the deputy manager of the business department of Ecus Publishing, complained that the organizer neglected demands for a larger exhibition area.

Last year, publishers from Taiwan were placed at an isolated place on the third floor, resulting in a substantial drop off in profit from previous years. The Taiwanese publishers were allowed to set their stores in the largest hall on the first floor this time.

Yen Chung, sales manager of Jen Jen Publishing Co Ltd, another publisher from Taiwan, said the sales performance on Monday fell to only one-third of sales on the same day last year.

Yen, who has attended the book fair since 2007, expressed hope that the HKTDC will open more space. "A lot of publishers in Taiwan, which have interest in joining the book fair, were not able to come due to the organizer only giving us a quota of 50," said Yen.

Readers said they were satisfied with the book fair. They agreed that there were more visitors this year. However, many criticized arrangements for getting into the fair.

Fan Ka-wai, a junior at the Chu Hai College of Higher Education, said the last day's arrangement was a little bit slow. Fan, who went to the book fair on Saturday, said it took him an hour to get into the venue on Tuesday, twice as long as on Saturday.

The HKTDC said the book fair recorded an entrance of 900,000 people, 50,000 fewer than in 2011. About 530 publishers took part in the fair.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/25/2012 page1)