Croatia - UFI’s new president Manfred Wutzlhofer says the faltering economy has created a pressing need to improve training and promotion schemes among exhibition executives.
Speaking at the UFI exhibition organisers association’s 76th global congress in Zagreb on Friday, Wutzlhofer said his term in office will be heavily influenced by developments relating to the global economic crisis, and that “severe paradigm shifts in global priorities”, especially in the area of environmental awareness, are directly affecting business.
“Regardless of today’s global shifts, it is clearly recognised that trade fairs and exhibitions are still of prime importance to the economy – and in some cases they are even more important than ever before,” he said.
“In times of crisis, domestic and international economic partners need exhibition platforms to send positive signals to their strategic markets to launch innovative products, discuss crisis management measures and using this knowledge respond quickly, flexibly and correctly.”
Wutzlhofer, who takes the baton from outgoing UFI president John Shaw, said the exhibition industry belongs to the service sector and as such requires “quality personnel with a constructive attitude for success and acceptance”.
“For this reason, we must make sure that promoting and advancing the training and qualification of exhibition employees remain UFI's special responsibility and concern, now and in the future,” he commented.
Wutzlhofer said that when it comes to the three tasks of promoting fairs and exhibitions in the media; training and qualifying exhibition employees, and supporting environmental protection measures in the exhibition industry, UFI has “a unique opportunity to develop and apply global standards and to provide this guidance to others”.
