The first ever Global Exhibitions Day (GED), held on 8 June 2016, has mobilised thousands of industry professionals around the world.
The initiative, driven by UFI and IAEE (the International Association of Exhibitions and Events) was launched six months ago, raising awareness about the social and economic benefits of the exhibition industry.
With the support of UFI’s network of 56 national exhibition associations, GED highlighted the exhibition industry’s important role in contribution to the global economy.
“For a long time, many people in the exhibitions industry felt that it would be great to have a day where the exhibition industry celebrates itself and sends a joint message about the importance and the strength of the industry not just in one country but worldwide. I am stunned how massive the global support of Global Exhibitions Day was and still is. It was about time to celebrate our industry and everyone working in it,” said UFI president Sergey Alexeev. “I am very happy to have encouraged this initiative as UFI President and I promise to support Global Exhibitions Day in the years to come."
As part of the Global Exhibitions Day initiative, UFI and all GED partners were able to share industry figures that display the direct value of trade shows.
Thousands of industry professionals joined events and activities in 60 countries around the world. Associations, companies, universities and individual professionals alike demonstrated their support.
Besides these national activities, many exhibition organisers, venues, and service providers prepared their own company-wide activities for and around Global Exhibitions Day.
On 8 June alone, thousands of tweets were posted and shared, hundreds of GED selfies published, and dozens of events took place where exhibition professionals raised awareness for our global industry, and celebrated the industry as well.
The GED Facebook Group received on average 200 new members every day in the run-up to Global Exhibitions Day. Countless photos, videos, GIFs, media releases, articles and discussions were shared and the hashtag #GED16 was used widely. One single video posted in support of GED alone reached an audience of 60,000 viewers in under 24 hours.
“The great response of the first ever Global Exhibitions Day proves that such a day was needed in our industry. We would like to thank all supporters for their engagement which has helped make GED such an all-round success. I encourage everyone to continue raising awareness, share messages and last but not least mark your calendars for 7 June 2017, the first Wednesday of June next year, when we celebrate Global Exhibitions day again,” concluded Kai Hattendorf, UFI managing director.
Exhibitions attract more than 260 million visitors per year worldwide. The global exhibition industry is valued at US$55bn.
With 4.4 million companies exhibiting each year, exhibitions support the development of trade and are an instrument of internationalisation.
The Global Exhibition Day was launched in January 2016. It is supported by the following associations: UFI (Global), AAXO and EXSA (South Africa), AEFI and CFI (Italy), AEO (UK), AFE (Spain), AFECA (Asia), AFIDA (Central & South America), AMPROFEC (Mexico), AOCA (Argentina), Fairlink (Sweden), FAMAB and AUMA (Germany), CAEM (Canada), CEFA and CENTREX (Central Europe), EEAA (Australasia), EEIA (EU), HKECIA (Hong-Kong), IAEE and SISO (USA), IECA (Indonesia), IEIA (India), IELA (Global), IFES (Global), LECA (Lebanon), MACEOS (Malaysia), MFTA (Macao), PCEI (Poland), RUEF (Russia), TEA (Thailand), UBRAFE (Brazil) and UNIMEV (France).
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