UFI Barometer: Global Exhibition Industry Adapting to Post-Covid Era
The majority of companies active in the global exhibition industry are set to recoup 80 percent of pre-Covid 2019 levels as of June with annual revenues to reach 94 percent of 2019 levels this year, found a UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) report released recently.
According to UFI’s 30th Global Exhibition Barometer with data from 367 companies in 56 countries and regions, the two most pressing issues for the industry will be:
– internal management challenges cited by 20 percent of survey respondents, and
– the impact of digitalization (16 percent).
“Challenges” cited include human resources (67 percent), business model adjustments (44 percent), and finance (31 percent).
At the same time, the majority of industry players (88 percent) polled said they were “confident that Covid-19 confirmed the value of face-to-face events.
‘We can now move on’
“We can stop focusing on ‘post-pandemic recovery’ and move on,” said UFI Managing Director and CEO Kai Hattendorf, adding that the barometer confirms that the “recovery phase is ending in most markets around the world”.
Hattendorf added that while every market shows certain specifics, globally attention has shifted toward future challenges. “Internal management – primarily staffing – and the need to further develop digitalization are top of mind around the world,” he said.
According to the data, the highest levels of “normal activity” for the first half of 2023 are expected in Brazil (98 percent), Turkey and the US (95 percent), the UK (90 percent), Italy and Thailand (88 percent), and Spain and UAE (85 percent).
The report’s analysts attribute the very positive outlook to the fact that exhibitions can now be held everywhere in the world with few exceptions.
In terms of turnover, Colombia, France, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Turkey have performed well above average in 2022 and the UK will join that group in 2023.
In terms of operating profit, the markets in all countries under review are above average levels in 2022 or 2023, or both, apart from China, Germany, Italy, Thailand, and the US.
Meanwhile, companies in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are receiving the highest proportions of public financial support which in Greece went from 12 percent to 86 percent.
Looking at trends over the 2015-2022 period:
– the impact of digitalization and competition with other media has become a key concern
– concerns about global economic developments and state of the economy in the home market and the impact of Covid-19 on the business declined
– concerns about internal management challenges increased by 14 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022
– sustainability and climate concerns doubled from 2015 to 2022
– concerns about competition from within the exhibition industry dropped.