USA – The American exhibition industry has finally broken a string of nine consecutive quarters of negative growth, according to a new report by the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).
According to the CEIR Index, the exhibition industry showed positive growth in every category.
Professional attendance, a key growth indicator, began improving in the second quarter of 2010 and continues to grow, with a 6.6 per cent growth over the same period in 2009. Net space sold and exhibitor numbers both grew 5.2 per cent over the same period in 2009. Projected revenue also grew 5.6 per cent.
CEIR reported a slowing of industry decline in Q2 this year.
“After a record-setting nine consecutive quarters of negative quarter-over-quarter performance, the third quarter according to the 2010 CEIR Index reports all four metrics show improvement over the third quarter of 2009,” said CEIR president and CEO Doug Ducate. “This is most welcome news and tends to confirm some of the anecdotal reports we have reviewed.
“It should be noted,” he continued, “that the third quarter is historically the weakest of the four quarters and has had the greatest decline. The test will be to see if this positive trend continues into the fourth quarter of 2010 and then the all-important first quarter of 2011.”
