UFI’s 5 to w atch in 2019

As every year, the UFI team has used its association’s Global Congress as well as many separate conversations all around the world to isolate and identify the core themes that we feel will impact the global exhibition industry in 2019.

1. Shifting trade patterns and a jit tery global economy

Amidst a climate of political tension, protectionism and false news globally, economic growth is slowing down. The latest IMF f orecasts point to rougher times ahead for the global economy, citing protectionism and new tariffs as a major cause. The US/ China tariffs alone are calculated t o reduce global economic growth by 0.4% in the long-term. Even withou t this additional burden, growth has become difficul t to sustain, especially in the mature exhibition markets: CEIR data shows that, in the U.S. alone, our industry has seen below par growth compared to the U.S. economy as a whole in seven out of the las t eight quarters.

I t comes as no surprise that, wha tever survey you look at, growing numbers of U.S. organizer s are looking into doing business outside of their home c ountry. In parallel, 2018 has seen the first ever time when a Chinese organizer has taken a majorit y share in a trade show ou tside of China.

We will see players from the t wo largest domestic markets in the world looking into options abroad. A ll of this offers new opportunities to partner between organizer s from different marke ts, and to capitalize on join t interests.

2. D igital is everywhere –but it is not everything

Ten year s into the mass adaption o f social media and the rise of the smartphones, it is time to end the discussion about the role of digitization in our industry. Today, digital is simply everywhere – on the show floor, in the show manager’s office, in the cus tomer’s exhibition experience. A s digital has become as c ommon as electricity, it has bec ome a commodity (just as show security, by the w ay).

The adoption of the European U nion’s General Data Protection Regula tions (GDPR) is leading us to a “new normal” in the w ay that we as an industry are dealing with customer data and are building up the in-house resources to achieve that.

Data handling and data securit y will be big topics in the future. A s show brands around the world increasingly communica te digitally with their cus tomers and communities all year round, data operations will be as relevant as show floor oper ations.

3. Getting the basics right goes a long way on creating experiences

For many year s, the “show” in this very word “show floor” w as under stood to be about the exhibitors showcasing their products and services. To the millennial and post-millennial gener ation, however, it is just as much about the “show” that a show organizer puts on around the show floor itself.

“Festivalisation” is a buzzword, and will rightly disappear again. B ut we are well advised to listen cl osely to our customers and their call for very personal and individual experiences when they a ttend an exhibition. A s the overlap between tradeshows and congresses/conferences c ontinues to grow, there are opportunities to deliver that –and there is a risk for those who don ’t pay attention to these shifting demands.

After polling more than 13,000 show visit ors globally f or the UFI/Explori Global Visit or Insigh ts, there is a solid understanding of visit ors’ changing expectations. Many visit ors are reporting “trade show fatigue” (less so in developing markets than in developed markets, and with the highest share – one quarter – in the Americas). Visit ors say that their interest in o ther channels such as online marke tplaces and conferences will likely rise significantly rela tive to trade shows.

Organizers and venues alike are well advised to never forget t o deliver excellence in terms of the basics, as visit or pain points are surprisingly simple. The top five are: seating, catering, queueing, parking, and quality of the exhibitors. Organizers can go a long w ay to pleasing visit ors by ge tting these five factors right.

4. C onsolidation and collaboration

We have seen an intense level o f M&A activity in the past two year s – shaking up our industry in the process. In addition, more and better venue space around the world is being built, as UFI’s World Map of Venues shows. In 2019, we are expecting the opening of wha t is poised to be the world’s largest exhibition venue complex in Shenzhen.

Billions of dollars are flowing in to our industry. And all the signs right now are indicating tha t, despite the less positive ec onomic outlook, the exhibition indus try remains attractive f or investors looking for solid, mid- term returns of their in vestments.

The mix of players in the indus try remains v aried: listed c ompanies, publicly owned organizer/venue operator en terprises, family businesses, en trepreneurs and government bodies. The growing number of “ou t of the industry investors” is driving prices to new heights, bu t it remains to be seen whe ther all these bets on growth will be successful. Our industry’s repu tation, however, is certainly benefit ting from this trend. It is helping our stakeholders to be tter understand the economic impact that every show, every venue creates every day.

5. Diversity in leadership

I f you look at the teams who deliver and grow exhibitions around the world, and who oper ate venues, you find a broad diver sity of skills, nationalities, and qualifications. Slowly but surely, our industry is reflecting this as well in its leadership. We’ve seen a steady flow of senior appointments enriching the diversity of boardrooms over the past two year s, adding new voices to the respective tables – most notably women on the one hand, but also hires from ou tside of the industry. Both of these trends will accelerate, and c ontinue, in 2019 and beyond, t o the benefit of our industry. To reduce this discussion to a gender issue alone, however, leaves out a major part – cultures and skills are just as importan t as part of the mix.