Mayfield Media’s Steve Monnington on the not-so-quiet deals being signed in the emerging markets.
The BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China – have long been cited by most international organisers as the countries where expansion is focused. However in his Global Industry Review at the recent UFI Congress in Singapore (pictured), former president and CEO of Koelnmesse Jochen Witt, made several interesting observations.
With Russia’s trade fair business declining by 30 per cent in 2009 and India’s expansion hampered by venue capacity, expansion activity has been concentrated on Brazil and China. Witt expects domestic tradeshows to grow in China, especially in the middle and western regions.
But what of new markets? I have been banging the drum for Turkey for the last couple of years and we are seeing increasing M&A activity there. Mexico seems to be the next Latin American market that will soon be ready to unlock. Interestingly, Witt identified Africa as a neglected region for trade fairs and thought there were opportunities for international organisers, especially in the resources sectors.
A few organisers have been quietly developing businesses in Africa. Montgomery has a portfolio of events through its subsidiary Specialised Exhibitions and has a partnership with UBM for its IFSEC brand. IIR also has a growing portfolio of conferences. Clarion operates through its subsidiary Spintelligent and is concentrating on events related to infrastructure, power and mining but overall, international activity is low.
Manch Communications, the organiser of Expo Summit in India, has picked up on the potential and decided to launch Expo Summit in South Africa. It has managed to attract a formidable line-up of international speakers for the first event in January including Sandy Angus, Jochen Witt, UBM’s Simon Parker and UFI’s Paul Woodward. Oh – and me too, so look out for International Business Development in Africa over the next few years. It was rather quiet on the acquisition front in November. In the UK, UBM acquired Publishing Expo from Legend Exhibitions and will co-locate it in 2011 with Technology For Marketing & Advertising and the Online Advertising & Affiliate Expo Publishing Expo.
In the US, global marketing and research group the Nielsen Company has purchased the Wedding and Portrait Photographer International Trade Show and two related trade magazines from Rangefinder. This was an interesting move given Nielsen has been rationalising its portfolio. In the Middle East, Tarsus added to its Aviation Sector entering into a long-term agreement with the Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority (ADTA) to run the Al Ain Aerobatic show.
The beginning of December sees Exposystems, the Congress and Exhibition of Integrated Solutions for Trade Shows and Events, taking place in Sao Paolo, Brazil. We are making a presentation about the threats and opportunities of the internationalisation of the trade fair sector. During the show, UBRAFE (the Association of Trade Fair professionals in Brazil) will hold its annual conference and here we will be presenting on M&A. It will be interesting to see which international organisers attend.
