WORLD - Members of the exhibition industry in the Asia-Pacific region were the most optimistic respondents to international trade fair association UFI’s fifth Barometer Survey.
While survey participants from the Asia-Pacific region appeared hardest-hit by changes in the world economy in 2008, their drop in turnover had bottomed-out by the end of 2009.
Asia-Pacific is the only region where a majority of respondents expect an increase by over 10 per cent of the 2010 annual profit compared to 2008 (54 per cent), and also think the impact of the economic crisis is finally over (58 per cent).
“When looking at the most important issue identified for the future, a majority of respondents in most parts of the world rank the state of the economy at either the global, national or regional level as their number one concern,” says UFI president Manfred Wutzlhofer. “UFI will continue to track this carefully as we develop new insights and trends in forthcoming editions of the Global Exhibition Barometer.”
Almost half of respondents in the Americas expect their 2010 annual profit to increase by more than 10 per cent on 2009 and remain stable compared to 2008, while only 41 per cent reported an increase in turnover in the first half of 2010.
The Middle East and Africa region was less severely effected than the other regions, with most respondents reporting a stable 2010 profit compared to 2008 and 2009.
