GLOBAL EXHIBITION RESEARCH

Latest global exhibition industry research released

The Brussels-based International Federation of Exhibition & Event Services (IFES) conducted a research study on the state of the global exhibition industry in April this year. The study was a follow-up to the survey conducted in September 2020. Justin Hawes, president of IFES and managing director of Scan Display offered some insights into the latest IFES research, while making some comparisons to the previous research results.

Justin Hawes

It’s interesting that the sample in the latest study was 123 – an increase of 43 per cent from the sample in the study last year. This increase in participation may be attributed to people’s interest in the previous research findings, making them eager to participate in the new study. Or possibly people have more time on their hands, as the exhibition industry heads towards 18 months, with almost no work. There was a noteworthy increase in respondents in the USA – from 11 in the first study to 34 in the latest study.

Government support

The main types of government support provided to the industry last year were loans and tax reductions. Initially governments gave loans and tax relief throughout their economies. They were broad-based and provided widespread relief across industries. However, governments were only able to provide this relief in the short term.

The latest research shows that government loans and tax reductions have dropped, and wage subsidies are now the main form of government support. Government support now targets specific industries and companies with wage subsidies. We saw this in South Africa, where the TERS (Temporary Employee Relief Scheme) benefits were extended for industries which have been unable to operate during the pandemic – although six months later, these benefits are yet to be paid.

Current exhibition activity

China was the first country in which national and international trade fairs could be held again. This was followed by the United Arab Emirates. Some countries have been able to hold small or test events but have reverted to lockdown as their countries faced new waves of the pandemic.

The respondents provided lists of the shows planned in their countries at the time of the study. These lists were subsequently updated with many shows being postponed or cancelled as infection rates changed in the countries.

Future exhibition activity

When respondents were asked about their country’s planned reopening dates for exhibitions, their answers varied widely, even within a specific country. In many counties, the show dates are set by the individual states. For example, in the USA, trade shows were taking place in Nevada again, while other states still banned mass gatherings.

Sixty per cent of the sample believed that exhibitions would reopen in the third or last quarter of 2021 − one must remember that the respondents all work in the exhibition industry and have a vested interest in its reopening, and their responses are likely to err on the optimistic side. A more cautious group (40 per cent) believed that exhibitions would only start again sometime in 2022.

Factors contributing to the reopening of exhibitions

The respondents felt that the lifting of international travel bans as well as the lifting of companies’ travel bans on employees would make the greatest contribution to the reopening of the industry. This is unsurprising, as most shows rely on exhibitors and visitors from around the globe.

The next most important contributing factor was the vaccination of seventyfive per cent of a country’s population.

Revenue drop

Respondents were asked to quantify their revenue drop from 2019 to 2020. Almost seventy per cent of the respondents said that they had seen their 2020 revenue drop by more than seventy-five per cent. Thirty per cent had experienced a crippling drop of more than ninety per cent.

They expect that their 2021 revenue levels will be similar to those in 2020.

Future challenges with employees

Approximately thirty-five per cent of the respondents said that they have either had to shut down their businesses or lay off up to seventy-five per cent of their employees.

The longer that the pandemic lasts, the greater the challenge that the industry will face in sourcing skilled workers when exhibitions restart.

Respondents believe that skilled workers will migrate to other sectors during the industry crisis, and professionals won’t want to work in the live event industry with everything so uncertain.

Exhibitors’ response

The uncertainty associated with planned shows and countries’ ever-changing restrictions on live events, means that exhibitors are reluctant to make decisions or commitments. Eighty per cent of respondents said that their customers (exhibitors) were eager to participate in planned shows, but were not prepared to make any financial commitment. Thirtyfour percent of the respondents said that they had customers who were both willing to participate and pay first instalments.

The respondents said that very few of their customers say that they prefer hybrid and virtual events to in-person events. The feedback from exhibitors is increasingly negative about virtual events, which many exhibitors believe have a low ROI.

Therefore, the feedback is that there is a strong drive amongst exhibitors to participate in physical events in future.

Virtual exhibitions

The feedback is that virtual seminars or conferences are more popular with customers than virtual exhibitions, but face-to-face events are still preferred over virtual events. Customers believe that investments in virtual exhibitions are high, and they lack the direct comparison with other brands that in-person exhibitions facilitate.

The respondents believe that virtual components will remain as an extension of an exhibitor’s web presence – virtual exhibits are a great website sales tool, but a poor substitution for face-to-face events.