Exhibition industry outlook 2020

The webinar dedicated to “Exhibition Outlook – the Voice of the Exhibition Industry”, the global research aimed at capturing KPIs and major transformations our industry is going through, was organized by GRS Research / Exponetwork (Italy) and held on 24 June 2020.

The results are a snapshot of the mood in the entire industry. They reflect the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent efforts for economic recovery, provide business analysts with the tools for making decisions.

During the webinar, results of the global research were presented by Enrico Gallorini (CEO, GRS Research & Strategy) and Andrea Piccin (General Manager UAE branch, GRS Research & Strategy). The results were discussed and commented by leading professionals of the exhibition industry, including two senior industry representatives from two key markets: Ms Trixie LohMirmand (SVP, Dubai World Trade Centre) and Prof. Dr. Christian Glasmacher (SVP, Koelnmesse).

The research was held from 1 till 15 June 2020 by collecting online feedback and opinion of players in the exhibition market, namely organizers of exhibitions, owners of exhibition centers, directors of exhibition projects, managers of marketing and sales departments. The research covered more than 50 countries and more than 550 respondents (exhibition industry professionals from across the world).

Top-5 countries as per the number of respondents were china, Germany, Italy, UAE and USA. 52% of respondents were organizers of exhibitions and 20% of respondents were owners of exhibition centers.

“Has one or more events under your direct responsibility/involvement been moved and/or cancelled due to the pandemic?” 54% of respondents answered moved and/or cancelled, 25.3% –moved, 10.1% – cancelled, 10.6% – neither moved nor cancelled.

“What's the biggest threat you're facing right now?” Two biggest threats were reduced trade show budget for exhibitors (41.6% of respondents), and travel restrictions for visitors and buyers (36.2% of respondents).

As for the question when the exhibition industry will be globally active again, about 73% of respondents answered October-December 2020.

Despite of the overall difficult situation, only 20% of respondents spoke in favor of online virtual events. When discussing this issue during the webinar, leaders of the exhibition industry said that people are very tired of digitalization, so they look forward to global revival of exhibitions and real-life communication.

At the same time, 71.6% of respondents spoke in favor of digital match-making system to enhance communication between exhibitors and visitors. It has such options as appointment of time for meetings or expert consultations, effective time allocation, etc.