WORLD – US-based Centre for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) has announced the results of its Q4 2009 CEIR Index report, which indicates that the global exhibition industry declined 12.5 per cent in the past year.
According to the research, 2009’s loss is four times greater than the largest previous loss of 3.1 per cent in 2008.
"The length, depth, and reach of this recession made resistance impossible," says CEIR president and CEO Douglas L. Ducate. "The concern today is not for what happened in 2008 and 2009, but what the outlook is for the industry over the next several years and for what organisers can do to strengthen their events."
The CEIR Index metrics of measurement saw a decline in net square feet (-12.3 per cent), revenue (-13.2 per cent), professional attendance (-4.1 percent), and number of exhibiting companies (-5.8 per cent) for Q4 of 2009, however, this is less severe than in past years, says CEIR.
"Since the exhibition and events industry for the most part is a trailing indicator, it will take time and a genuine economic recovery before the industry experiences sustained growth," CEIR said in a statement. "Once a genuine economic recovery occurs, if the industry follows past patterns, the recovery will be swift. Notably, the industry's previous decline ended with the Q2 of 2003. By the end of 2004, the exhibitions and events industry performance had returned to pre-2000 levels."
