The exhibition industry will achieve record revenues globally in 2024, moving beyond the post-pandemic recovery that was achieved at the end of 2023, according to a new research report from UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry. UFI has released, 8 August 2024, the 33rd edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer report, designed to take the pulse of the industry, and the latest results highlight that 2023 and 2024 revenues in the industry are expected to grow by a respective 20% and 17% year on year.
It seems the sector is back in the business of hiring, too. Globally, 48% of companies declare that they plan to increase their workforce in the coming six months, while another 48% declare that they will keep current staff numbers stable.
Survey results show that ‘State of the economy in home market’ is the most pressing issue (22% of answers globally), followed by ‘Global economic developments’ (15% of responses).
There is a universal consensus that AI will affect the industry, with 90% of companies stating this, and a growing share of businesses reporting that they actively use this new technology already.
“This edition of UFI’s flagship Barometer research confirms our early data from January that 2024 will be a record year for industry revenues globally. This edition shows how this growth translates into new jobs in our sector as well as in expansion plans from the majority of businesses – aiming both at new business activities as well as new geographies. Against a complex global backdrop, the global exhibition industry is bullish about its short and mid-term prospects”, comments Kai Hattendorf, managing director and CEO at UFI.
The results make for some interesting comparisons. “The Barometer also shows how 19 key exhibition markets and regions match up both against their respective regions and against the global averages. We have expanded this reporting further to make this data more easily accessible. There is no other research in this industry that allows for such level of comparison”, Hattendorf adds.
Operations
Globally, the level of operations in the first half of 2024 has picked up for half of the companies (four out of 10 in Asia-Pacific, Central & South America and the Middle East & Africa; and six out of 10 in Europe and North America) while it was qualified as ‘normal’ for one in three.
This trend is set to continue in the coming year with, on average, a percentage of companies reporting an increased activity ranging from 59% in North America to 50% in Asia-Pacific, 49% in the Middle East and Africa, and 48% in Central & South America and Europe, respectively.
Turnover and profits
Revenues increased by 20% on average in 2023, and this trend is expected to continue. In 2024, revenues are expected to grow again by an average of 17% year over year.
These general trends do vary from one country to another:
- Revenues from 2023 compared to 2022 vary from 143% in Malaysia, 139% in Thailand, 132% in Argentina and the USA, to 105% in Spain, 103% in Brazil and 101% in Australia.
- Revenues from 2024 compared to 2023 vary from 148% in Colombia, 138% in Brazil, 123% in the UAE, to 106% in Germany, 105% in China and 98% in France.
In terms of operating profits for 2023, 61% of the companies declare an annual increase of more than 10%, and 27% declare a stable one. For 2024 operating profits, 47% say they are planning an annual increase of more than 10% and 39% a stable one.
The highest proportion of companies expecting an annual profit increase of more than 10% are in Malaysia (100%), Spain (83%) and Thailand (75%) for 2023, and Brazil (82%) and the UK (69%) for 2024.
Workforce development
The employment outlook appears rosy. Globally, 48% of companies declare that they plan to increase their staff numbers, while another 48% declare that they will keep current staff numbers stable.
The highest proportion of companies planning to add staff are identified in Malaysia (91%), Brazil (75%) and the UAE (73%).
Most important business issues
The most pressing business issue is ‘State of the economy in home market’ (22% of answers globally – same as six months ago – and the main issue in all regions, except the Middle East and Africa, where it ranks second).
Overall, ‘Global economic developments’ come in as the second most important issue globally (15% of answers, compared to 17% six months ago), followed by ‘Geopolitical challenges’ (14%, and the top issue for the Middle East and Africa) and ‘Competition from within the exhibition industry’ (14%).
‘Internal management challenges’ (11%), ‘Sustainability/Climate’, which drops back a point to 9% and ‘Impact of digitalisation’ (6%) follow.
An analysis by industry segment (organiser, venue only and service provider) shows no differences regarding the most pressing issue (‘State of the economy in home market’), but the second and third ones vary: ‘Global economic developments’ (17%) and ‘Geopolitical challenges’ (16%) for organisers; ‘Competition from within the exhibition industry’ (18%) and ‘Sustainability/Climate’ (13%) for venues; ‘Competition from within the exhibition industry’ (19%) and ‘Global economic developments’ (15%) for service providers.
Current strategic priorities
In all regions, a large majority of companies intend to develop new activities, either in the classic range of exhibition industry activities (venue/organiser/services), outside of the current product portfolios, or in both areas: 69% in Asia-Pacific, 74% in North America, 75% in Central & South America, 83% in Europe and 84% in the Middle East & Africa.
In terms of geographic expansion, 43% of companies declare an intention to develop operations in new countries and regions.
Generative AI applications
Globally, there is an overwhelming consensus that AI will affect the industry, with 90% of companies stating this.
The areas expected to be most affected by the development of AI are the same in all regions: ‘Sales, Marketing and Customer Relations’ (83% globally), ‘Research & Development’ (82%) and ‘Event Production’ (69%).
These are precisely the areas where generative AI applications are already mostly used, and in all regions (39%, 38%, and 28% globally, respectively).
EW asked Kai Hattendorf how UFI and its members can build on some of the results highlighted in the study. He says: “Geopolitical changes continue to rise in importance, linked to geopolitical and local economic developments. Against the backdrop of our industry’s impressive growth, we see changes coming our way, driven by old and new challenges. We will build the sessions at our Global Congress in November in Cologne to identify the chances that lie in these changes – under the hashtag #changes2chances”
Background
The 33rd Global Barometer report, concluded in July 2024, provides insights from 453 companies, across 68 countries and regions. It was conducted in collaboration with 32 associations:
In line with UFI’s objective to provide vital data and best practices to the entire exhibition industry, the full results can be downloaded at www.ufi.org/research.
The next UFI Global Exhibition Barometer survey will be conducted in December 2024.
