UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, has released the latest edition of its flagship Global Barometer research.
Overall, the report confirms strong industry performance for 2019 and a higher level of uncertainty when looking towards 2020 in many countries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.
The survey also reveals a positive result in terms of operating profit, with at least 70% of companies in each of the four regions maintaining a good level of performance in 2019 compared to 2018.
The majority of companies from all regions also expect an increase in gross turnover. However, there is uncertainty in many countries prior to the coronavirus issue.
Results indicate that the key issue for the industry remains the state of the economy at home, selected by 26% of respondents.
In terms of strategy, a large majority of companies intend to develop new activities, either with classic exhibition industry initiatives or by moving outside current product portfolios.
In terms of geographical expansion, more than one company out of three declares an intention to develop operations in new countries.
Kai Hattendorf, Managing Director and CEO of UFI, said: “Exhibitions grew again in 2019, but a slowdown is expected for the beginning of 2020. The novel coronavirus outbreak, which has already led to many shows being postponed or cancelled in China and Asia, will impact this as well. We all hope this situation settles quickly, as the exhibition industry is using these results to shape its general development plans and how its adapting to the continually evolving classic business model.”
Size and scope
The survey was concluded in January 2020 and includes data from a record 438 companies in 70 countries and regions.
Economic developments
In all regions, the majority of companies expect an increase in gross turnover. This includes Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, Russia, the UAE and the USA. However, levels of uncertainty over the period are recorded in Argentina, China, Macau, Japan, Mexico and the UK.
The highest proportion of companies declaring an increase of more than 10% are observed in the USA (62%), Brazil (50%), Germany (42%), Thailand (42%) and India (41%). The lowest proportion of companies are in Indonesia (29%), Russia (29%), Australia (28%), South Africa (24%), the UAE (11%), Macau (0%) and the UK (0%).
Key business issues
As in previous surveys, 80% of all answers relate to the following four issues: state of the economy at home (26% in the current survey, up 2% compared to six months ago), competition within the industry (20% in the current survey, up 1% compared to six months ago), global economic developments (19% in the current survey, same as six months ago) and internal challenges (16% in the current survey, down 1% compared to six months ago).
Strategy
79% of companies in the Asia-Pacific region, 87% in the Middle East and Africa, 90% in Europe and 93% in the Americas intend to develop new activities.
In terms of geographical expansion, 36% of companies on average declare an intention to develop operations in new countries. This is the case for the majority of companies in 7 of the 22 markets analysed: Germany (73%), the UK (73%), South Africa (64%), other Middle Eastern countries (56%), Brazil (50%), Italy (50%) and the USA (50%).
Evolution of the exhibition business model
The 24th Global Barometer survey looked into how the exhibition model is evolving, by questioning companies what specific features are being implemented, as well as the share of available space used for these features.
Results also indicate a major use of conference stages on and near the show floor (3.6 out of a scale of 5), followed by open meeting spaces (2.9) and catering (2.8).
Off main site events are proven to be less common (2.0). These features occupy on average less than 10% of the total space of the exhibitions.
