EUROPE - The ongoing uncertainty in the Eurozone is threatening the launch of new events in Spain as organisers and venues wait for a more stable marketplace.
Spain is being held alongside stricken Greece and Italy as one of the three countries in direst need of financial assistance from its European neighbours, a result of soaring debt, housing industry bust and record levels of unemployment.
The country, like Italy, is considered too expensive a proposition for the eurozone to bail out, which has pushed up borrowing costs and led to the introduction of prohibitive austerity measures.
The impact is being felt in the exhibition sector, according to Jose Miguel Corres, CEO of Bilbao Exhibition Centre, commenting for a feature in the latest edition of Exhibition World.
“We are aware of the situation Spain is facing and it’s not the best for our industry,” said Corres. “Like everybody in the sector, we are always considering new projects. At the moment we have two projects ready to be launched. The big question is when? Firms need to make cash before attending shows or engaging in other marketing activities.
“We are aware that the ‘early bird catches the worm’ but we also know that a good project could be ruined by bad timing,” he said, adding that the biggest challenge is to recover the levels of activity and figures that we had prior to the crisis, “mainly in the bigger shows that we run”.
Luis Eduardo Cortes at Feria de Madrid (IFEMA) told EW that companies in Spain are looking to work more closely than ever in growing their businesses in a complicated environment.
“Without any doubt our guiding mission is to become more and more competitive, now more than ever given the financial situation today,” said Cortes. “To do this it has been essential to innovate, investigate new projects, establish strategies and forge alliances that afford us access tointernational markets and allow us to consolidate our position.”
Cortes, pictured, claimed IFEMA has strived to adapt in an “agile” manner to current circumstances, looking at previously unchecked market niches that he refers to as “outside the fair circuit”.
According to Corres, Spain‘s government is supportive of the role, albeit modest, of exhibitions, which it wants to encourage as catalysts of a resurgent export industry.
“Their main reason is to help exports,” he said. “The biggest challenge is to recover the levels of activity and figures that we had prior to the crisis, mainly in the bigger shows that we run. Bilbao hopes to double its turnover in a six-year time-frame through a new strategic plan involving adapting former events to the current time and situation, and creating new shows demanded by markets.
“At the same time we must accept some areas will never be the same again, and must continue developing new business,” he added.
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