Vincent Polito, CEO of the Society of Independent Show Organisers (SISO) looks ahead
The first edition of the year is always a good time to make some forward looking statements about the year ahead. In just the first few weeks of the year we have seen major high quality events exceeding expectations, setting the stage for 2023 to potentially reach or eclipse the 2019 high water marks. There has been a lot of debate about whether the industry exceeds it’s 2019 numbers in 2023 or 2024, and early indications look positive for attaining this in 2023. I will break this down into three categories.
Topics from 2022 and previous that will continue to be on everyone’s agenda:
Sustainability has attained the status after many years that everyone in the ecosystem is committed and working toward significant milestones. From a pledge to work toward net zero carbon events (netzerocarbonevents.org) along with a better understanding of how trade shows result in less air travel, this topic will remain front of discussions for most organisations. It will be less about the planning and more about the implementation of the plans.
Workforce development will continue to be a significant challenge throughout all of 2023. There will be a bit of a reset if there is an economic slowdown, but our industry will continue to be challenged regarding attracting and retaining talent at all levels. Expect to see more coordinated efforts across all age groups and demographics to bring attention and attract talent.
DEI will continue to lag in the event industry, but a real commitment is being made. It will be a long process as employees navigate their respective organisations to obtain positions of leadership. We will see improvement, but it will be frustratingly slow at times.
Topics from 2022 that will likely diminish:
It should be a goal to not hear any more stories about how organisations navigated Covid.
Only in the rarest of cases will we still see on site testing or masking requirements.
Travel restrictions will wane significantly.
Topics that will become more significant in 2023:
There will be significant improvements to the visa problems, particularly in the case of China.
Outbound travel from China will come back faster than expected. While the slowing growth from China is currently a concern, the pent up demand for international travel will result in rapid increases in attendance at international trade shows.
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly maturing and will begin to play a more significant part in our industry, and its use will drive impressive results. Executive commitment and knowledge gaps will be the biggest reasons for slow adoption.
Floorplan design and overall event design will reemerge as a key component in growth strategies.
Overall Outlook – Bottom Line
The Ukrainian conflict has put a lot of pressure on energy in Europe. The longer the conflict the more potential drag on the industry. It is still possible/likely that a recession is ahead of us, but it will be briefer and less intense than once feared, providing there are no other global crises ahead.
There are a lot of factors that could create headwinds, but the outlook for 2023 is quite positive.
