UFI’s new managing director Kai Hattendorf runs down his top trends for 2016.
2016 is going to be an interesting year for the exhibition industry. Over the past few weeks, the UFI team has been in touch with many members and attended numerous industry meetings. Out of this we have distilled a brief look at fi ve trends affecting our industry – trends that we at UFI believe will be discussed and debated in 2016.
The state of the global economy
This, of course, always belongs on such a list. Our latest UFI barometer shows a mixed outlook. Based on a survey sent to leading organisers worldwide, it shows that there are positive turnover expectations in 2016 for the majority of companies in North America and Europe, with the notable exception of Russia. In Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, the situation remains generally positive, but with a greater degree of uncertainty. In Central and South America, half of the companies surveyed are expecting decreases of turnover, but respondents in Brazil expect an improvement in the second half of 2016.
In terms of operating profits, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent expect profits will rise by more than 10 per cent; even more so in the USA and the Middle East, but lower levels are anticipated in Brazil and Russia.
Venue and event security
The recent terror attacks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, combined with the ongoing European refugee crisis has led to increased security levels around the world. Every time I leave Paris by train, I pass through airport-style security.
Passport controls are being reestablished and visa applications are taking longer. This will impact trade shows as global industries are relying on international participation to grow. Recently at a conference in China, where many Chinese venues were presenting themselves to organisers, no one forgot to cite security measures as a key selling point. O2O – Online to offline The digital world continues to make headlines in our industry as online platforms and organisers are increasingly collaborating.
Interestingly, this is happening in China first as three announcements were made in recent weeks with the Alibaba Group at the centre of it all. Alibaba has partnered with UBM to evolve joint offers for show exhibitors and teamed up with Messe Berlin to launch an electronics show in Shenzhen which aims to rival the industry leading event, CES in Las Vegas. Finally, Alibaba announced that the group would partner with Hannover Milano Fairs to provide credit services to exhibitors in China.
Expect more developments like this throughout 2016 as the digital transformation of our industry picks up speed – not just in China, but in exhibition markets around the world, as the big players of the industry implement the strategies they’ve been working on in the past 12 months.
Developments in China
These digital collaborations come just a few months after the Chinese Government published plans to reform its exhibition industry.
The mandate, issued by China’s powerful State Council, includes ambitious plans to help Chinese organisers to grow and acquire businesses internationally. The State Council’s plan is to be implemented over the next five years, but the changes will certainly begin to appear sooner. At the same time, China is facing significant challenges such as venue over capacity. Of course, this is not the case in China’s fi rst-tier exhibition cities - Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai, but in many second and third-tier cities. Shanghai, meanwhile, is aiming to lead the world in exhibitions and UFI members will see these developments first hand this year at our next congress which will be held in Shanghai from November 9 to 12. Mark your calendars.
Venue investments
Shanghai is a good example of the fifth and last trend: venue investments are increasing on a global level. EMECA says major European venues will invest well over three billion euros into expanding and upgrading facilities. In the USA, the Javits Center will increase its space for exhibitions and conventions by 50 per cent.
New venues such as the ICE in Jakarta, BITEC’s planned expansion in Bangkok, and developments in Buenos Aires are stimulating growth in key regional markets. Meanwhile in China, despite the overcapacity affecting some markets, venue projects have recently been undertaken in cities such as Shenzhen and Kunming, to name just two. The UFI team will track these trends throughout the year as we build the content at our regional events in the coming months. The 11th UFI Open Seminar in Asia, to be held in Chiang Mai (February), will focus on digital disruption and our Middle East/Africa Seminar in March in Beirut will focus on the changes in that region.
