UK - The UK exhibition and conference industries are hoping 2011 will be a year of growth, despite the unexpected announcement that the UK economy contracted by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2010.
According to Michael Hirst, chairman of the Business Visits and Events Partnership, the sectors targeted for development by the government are good markets for events. These include tourism, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, high-value engineering and green industry.
“There are opportunities for the industry to focus on the growth industries and make sure they use events,” Hirst told EW. “For example, the government is putting a lot of money into science and a lot of conferences have scientific content. If we can make Britain the destination of choice for these events, then it can become the hub for these industries.”
“We have always argued that there is no better way of productively displaying your products than at an exhibition,” he added.
As for the exhibition and conference industry outlook, Hirst said organisers are optimistic. “The general feeling is that we are on the up, not on the down,” he said. “The feedback I’m getting from event organisers is that they are getting a lot of enquiries and are quite encouraged.”
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