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UFI Global Barometer shows the global exhibition industry adapting to the post-pandemic era

31.01.2023

UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, has released the latest, 30th edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer research, which takes the pulse of the industry.

The results highlight the quickening pace of the industry’s recovery in 2022 and a positive outlook for 2023.

While there is strong evidence that Covid-19 is behind in most markets, where the full recovery is expected in 2023, there remain a few markets, including China, where this full recovery is not anticipated in 2023. Globally, the level of operations continues to improve, with a proportion of companies declaring a “normal activity” gradually increasing from 30 percent in January 2022 to percent in December 2022 and expected to reach 80 percent in June 2023 – aligning with pre-pandemic levels.

Companies from most markets expect to deliver 2022 results close to their 2019 levels. In terms of operating profit, around half of the companies are declaring an increase or stable level for 2022 compared to 2019 levels and increasing to 7 out of 10 for 2023. Those results for 2022 were achieved with no public financial support for 69 percent of companies, and for half of those that did, this aid represented less than 10 percent of their overall costs.

The most pressing business issues also reflect how the industry is now focusing on post-pandemic challenges and opportunities: “Internal management challenges” (highlighted by 20 percent of respondents), “Impact of digitalisation” (16 percent), and “State of the economy in the home market” and “Global economic developments” (both 15 percent of answers) are the most common ones. By comparison, the “Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the business” is now marked by only 5 percent of companies as one of the most important issues (compared to 19 percent twelve months ago).

“We can stop focusing on ‘post-pandemic recovery’ – and move on! This 30th edition of our Barometer confirms that the recovery phase is ending in most markets around the world. While every market shows certain specifics, globally attention has shifted toward future challenges. Internal management - primarily staffing - and the need to further develop digitalisation are top of mind around the world,” says Kai Hattendorf, managing director and CEO at UFI.

Size and scope
This latest edition of UFI’s bi-annual industry survey was concluded in January 2023 and includes data from 367 companies in 56 countries and regions.

The study also includes outlooks and analysis for 21 focus countries and regions – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the USA – as well as five additional aggregated regional zones.

Operations
The highest levels of “normal activity” for the first half of 2023 on average are expected in Brazil (98 percent), Turkey and the US (95), the UK (90), Italy and Thailand (88), and Spain and UAE (85). In China, only 29 percent expect a normal activity, and 40 percent a reduced one.

This overall very positive outlook is driven by the fact that exhibitions can now be held everywhere in the world, except in some places in China. In parallel, new hygiene measures are reported in several regions (in more than 20 percent of respondents in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand). In China alone, as of December 2022, and combining all markets, 55 percent of respondents declared that exhibitions could be held (usually with hygiene measures), 17 percent reported that “only local events” were and 28 percent said that events were still not allowed.

Exhibition organizers participating in this edition of the Barometer were also asked to evaluate the “hosted buyers” packages, whereby the organiser invites and hosts selected visitors in return for a guaranteed amount of business meetings with exhibiting companies.

Global results indicate that half of the respondents apply this concept, and while one in four of them are happy with the programmes, two-thirds declare having mixed results. Results vary significantly between specific markets, providing insights into opportunities for hosted buyer programmes.

Turnover, operating profits and public financial support
Globally, on average and excluding China, the revenues for 2022 and 2023 represent 80 percent and 94 percent of 2019 levels. Colombia, France, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Turkey have performed well above this average in 2022 and the UK will join that group in 2023.

In terms of operating profit, the markets in all the countries analysed are above average levels in either 2022 or 2023, or both, except China, Germany, Italy, Thailand, and the US.

Globally, 4 percent of respondents expect a loss for 2023, compared to 11 percent for 2022. The highest proportion of companies expecting a loss in 2023 is declared in China (18 percent), Germany (17 percent) and Italy (11 percent.

While the highest proportions of companies receiving public financial support are identified in Europe and Asia-Pacific, there are significant differences across all regional markets, and the percentages of companies declaring that they received “no public support” varies:

from 69 percent in the US to 100 percent in Mexico, for North America
from 53 percent in Brazil to 83 percent in Chile, for Central and South America
from 12 percent in Greece to 86 percent in the UK, for Europe
from 67 percent in Saudi Arabia to 91 percent in the UAE, for the Middle East and Africa
from 19 percent in Malaysia to 100 percent in India, for Asia-Pacific.

Key business issues
“Internal management challenges” is the key business issue for all regions, and it is the most selected issue for most markets. Within “Internal management challenges,” 67 percent of respondents selected “Human resources” issues, 44 percent selected “Business model adjustments”, and 31 percent selected “Finance”.

For Germany, Italy, the UK and the US, however, “Global economic developments” has become the most pressing issue.

An analysis by industry segment (organiser, venue only and service provider) shows no differences with regard to the three most pressing issues, which remain “Internal management challenges”, “Impact of digitalisation” and “State of the economy in the home market”.

The 30th Global Barometer survey, concluded in January 2023, provides insights from 367 companies, across 56 countries and regions. It was conducted in collaboration with 21 UFI member associations.





 
 

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