Event strategy and media consultancy AMR International recently released its annual Top 20 exhibition organisers’ global ranking based on the distorted market of 2020. This year’s ranking provided a snapshot of a very different world, although Informa Markets and RX (Reed Exhibitions) still led the way.
The graph above, however, attempts to put these results in context, with a direct comparison to the 2019 revenue figures.
Partner at AMR International Florent Jarry, tells EW: “2020 was an exceptional year due to the disruption of Covid-19; organisers were impacted to varying extents depending on their exhibition calendar and geographic exposure.
“Among the AMR Top 20, there was an average revenue decline of 56% in 2020 compared to 2019. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) was the only entrant to record an increase in revenues, thanks to CES being held before any restrictions in the US. Elsewhere around the world, the China Foreign Trade Centre (CFTC) (-17%) and Dmg events (-34%) did relatively well.
“The most severely affected organisers in the Top 20 were Koelnmesse, RX, Emerald Expositions and Fiera Milano, all with over 70% revenue decline.”
AMR International also provides more in-depth analysis on the global exhibitions industry in its annual Globex report, which is a more definitive dataset and forecast for the industry. Globex 2021 will be published in November.
