Rise of the Festival?

In mid-February UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, released the latest edition of its Global Barometer Research. Highlights include a strong industry performance overall in 2019, uncertainties ahead, and the rise in the festivalisation of business events.

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UFI’s latest Global Barometer shows that the industry performed well in 2019 overall. That said, there are regions where there are challenges ahead – particularly Asia-Pacific* and Latin America. According to Kai Hattendorf, MD and CEO of UFI, the slowdown is

expected for the beginning of this year. “The novel coronavirus outbreak, which has already led to many shows being postponed or cancelled in China or Asia, will impact this as well,” he says. “We all hope this situation settles quickly, as the exhibition industry is using these results to shape its general development plans and how it’s adapting to the continually evolving classic business model.”

Regardless of the coronavirus setback, companies have indicated uncertainty with the state of the industry. Issues include local economic issues, competition within the industry, and global economic developments.

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A New Kind of Exhibition The exhibition model is changing, too. According to the study’s results, there is more use of conference stages on or near the show floor, more open meeting spaces are being used, followed by catering and designated food spaces, as well as growth in the popularity of off main site events.

“Call it ‘Festivalisation’, call it ‘ConfEx’ – the business model of exhibitions keeps evolving,” says Hattendorf. “The Barometer shows that, globally, the core elements of these trends are by now well understood around the world…but their use differs.”

Show organisers are increasingly looking to develop new activities, whether that means opting for programming within the traditional model, or trying something new entirely. Broken down by region, 93% of respondents in the Americas intend to do this, while 90% in Europe, followed by 87% in the Middle East.

Outlook for Africa According to the Barometer, contrary to the rest of the world, Africa and the Middle

East experienced a sharp downturn during the first half of 2019. In fact, only 24% of South Africans declared an increase of more than 10% of their operating profits, with event fewer in the UAE (11%).

In terms of the evolution of the exhibition business model and how many companies are incorporating this into their events, Africa and the Middle East lag behind the global average. Less than 10% of exhibition floor space is used on three of these trends – catering / designated food spaces, open meeting spaces and off main site events.

But it’s not all bad news. 45% of African and Middle Eastern respondents use between 10 and 25% of their total exhibition floor space for conference stages – more than the global average (33%). This could be due to many forces – efficient or creative use of a limited space, or to create a buzz on the show floor. It’s a fact that African exhibitions are warm, vibrant and exciting. They’re full of life and having a conference or an event on the exhibition floor certainly adds flavour. With this in mind, there’s no doubt that many more exhibitions will take up some of the other trends which ultimately encourage more casual and personal relationship building.

Data sources: TSNN, UFI. To read the full report, go to www.ufi.org. *This research was conducted before the coronavirus outbreak, which may impact the outlook.