Category: Destination

Not all organisers have been focusing on the huge, unproven exhibition markets. Scandinavia, traditionally a domestic market with a predominantly local audience for its events, has been increasing the long-term profitability of its exhibitions industry. 

The three kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden, as well as the two others that combine to form the Nordic countries, Finland and Iceland, have traditionally been overlooked by international organisers. “We are way up north in Europe and major changes have marked the last twelve months for Scandinavia, and the measures aimed at increasing the long-term profitability of its exhibitions industry,” says Peter Scott, executive director of organiser and venue Elmia Exhibitions and Events, one of Scandinavia’s largest trade show organisers and venues. “It is a safe and beautiful environment, very well connected to the rest of the world and you can travel very easily to and throughout Scandinavia.”

In the ten years after the big European recession that opened the 21st century, Scandinavia performed a lot better than other countries in Europe, and it is no longer a blind spot for exhibition and event organisers. As you might expect for a region that counts IKEA, Ericsson, Volvo and fashion label H&M, design and software development are key industries here and the events reflect this. As Europe’s economy has moved into these industries, preferring to outsource production and manufacture to Asia, so too has the prominence of these industries done much to bring exhibition business to the region.

And while the cost of hosting an event in the region remains relatively high, it is an attractive place to visit, associated with clean living and natural beauty. The Swedish capital, Stockholm, has long been famed for its idyllic setting and its rich cultural heritage, but it has also built a more recent reputation as a global centre of dynamic design, cutting-edge fashion and innovative cuisine, music and art.

Australia is another exhibition destination that can claim geography as the main reason for being largely overlooked by organisers. One must make a strong case to select Australia over other countries in the region as a stage for Australasian and Asian exhibitions. Making a trip that far from Europe and the US, the two most mature exhibition markets, is difficult to justify without the population or manufacturing base of, say, China or Indonesia. But as with Scandinavia, Australia is also one of the world’s more dynamic and resilient mature economies. And while smaller in stature than its European, US and Asian counterparts, the country’s exhibition sector is a vibrant one, fiercely committed to growth and innovation.

Australia’s exhibition market is predominantly national in terms of exhibitors and visitors, with the bulk of shows being held in its two largest state capital cities: Sydney (New South Wales) and Melbourne (Victoria). That said, event infrastructure is available and utilised across other states and territories where sectors are large enough to warrant their own or additional state-based events.

Diversified Exhibitions Australia, for example, rotates the national annual edition of its Fine Food trade show between Sydney and Melbourne, then holds biennial editions in Brisbane and Perth, while Reed Exhibitions stages its Gift Fairs in Sydney and Melbourne annually. The two organisers are the largest players in the country, followed by Informa-owned Australian Exhibitions and Conferences (AEC), Exhibitions and Trade Fairs and Expertise Events.

“Australia has a strong economy, currency and strong import opportunities as a result,” Diversified Exhibitions Australia managing director and the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia chairman Matthew Pearce says. “The fluctuation in the value of the dollar makes this place incredibly expensive when you’re coming from abroad. But if you can land deals and sell product competitively compared with the expensive goods produced here, there are business opportunities.”

Ask any organiser what stymies growth – besides a population of 22 million and its physical location – and most will point the finger at limited infrastructure. In 2013 Diversified was wall-bound by a 10,000sqm venue in Perth, which is also Australia’s fastest growing state capital. Both Sydney and Melbourne’s main venues were full in the same year – an indication of a burgeoning marketplace.

None the less, development in Australia is taking place and the appetite of global organisers is hopefully speeding it along. 

Exhibitions have an almost unique ability to present global trends to domestic markets, and in doing so opening doors to the people who live there. But what pieces must a destination have in place to make a successful exhibition industry?

New Orleans jazz is famous around the globe. The New Orleans jazz funeral less so, but for those of you not familiar with perhaps the world’s most colourful rite of passage for the deceased, it turns death into an occasion both earnest and inspirational. It celebrates a life much loved. Lasting up to a week, and in some instances including a parade far removed from the sort of funeral procession the majority of us are ever likely to witness, the event marks a loved one’s journey into the afterlife with heartfelt reverence and praise – as well as tambourines and drums. 

A typical funeral begins with a slow march from the deceased’s home, the corpse carried through the street by horse-drawn hearse and accompanied by a brass band playing sombre dirges. In time this changes into a swing beat, as the downcast mood of the mourners gives way to the uninhibited celebration of a life. The New Orleans jazz funeral gained popularity throughout the 20th century and has rightly become a spectacle beyond compare; interestingly, it has lost some of its popularity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Now while it is of course an extreme case, compare this exuberant business with the traditions that surround death in China, where throughout history it has been a taboo subject. Any activity associated with death is believed to bring misfortune, and the matter is given over to hushed whispers and overt solemnity. 

In 1993, when Beijing doctor Li Songtang established a palliative care unit hoping to improve the lives of the terminally ill in one of the city’s central districts, his efforts were stymied by implacable protestors who spoke of curses, and claimed his business would be a blight on the neighbourhood.

So given this deeply rooted set of cultural traditions, it may have come as some surprise when the US-based National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) decided to launch a funeral exhibition in Hong Kong. 

The fact remains that death is revered or celebrated in a multitude of ways, and the NFDA sought to achieve one of the most impressive outcomes available to exhibition organisers: creating a new market and in the process generating some sort of cultural shift. One of the organisers commented that elderly attendees were even lining up to ‘try out’ the coffins on display for size and comfort. Against the odds, the show did, in fact, become increasingly successful and it continues to run today. 

Of course it doesn’t only happen in the emerging markets. When Brian Wiseman launched the adult entertainment exhibition ‘Erotica ‘ in the UK, he helped to legitimise an industry that until then had existed largely beneath cornershop counters and behind the panelled windows of Soho alleys. His decision to launch such a show flew in the face of the long-standing ‘No sex please, we’re British’ attitude that had in effect repressed the adult entertainment industry in the UK; in doing so Wiseman gave the British public cause to question the way in which the industry was at that point ill-serving a clear and present demand.

One of the primary motivators of the international exhibition organiser is precisely that drive to be first into a marketplace, to establish a supply for a latent or undiscovered demand, and there is no more bountiful a place to do so than in the emerging markets.

The conventional dichotomy between mature and developing, or emerging, markets is not so easily applied to the exhibition industry. The traditional understanding of a mature market is defined as one in which growth and innovation has levelled off, where the return on investment is likely to yield more modest gains. By contrast, early investment and a foothold in an emerging market, where innovation is key and a market presence expands in accordance with the growth of industry, can generate much greater rewards.

However, as anybody familiar with the complicated exhibition industry in India, Russia or many African countries can attest, the development of a market through activity that has proven to be lucrative elsewhere is anything but certain. Sometimes, focusing on innovation or the exploitation of a niche industry in a mature market can be more lucrative than staging a leading construction show in an emerging market. 

The exhibition industry is, after all, hostage to the progression of a market through the connection of those who want, and those who have.

In the words of Miladin Šakić, one-time president of the Belgrade Fair: “Every country, in accordance with her possibilities, tries to abandon manual production as early as possible and have it replaced by a mechanical one – in other words to get industrialised at the earliest possible date and reach a higher level of development.”

This, he says, is a necessity in itself and is followed by every developed country cultivating the potential that exists elsewhere in the world. The global exhibition industry is fundamental to the development of industry in developing countries. The right congregation of technology firms and buyers can bring affordable refrigeration to countries in Africa, or help construct sanitation systems in an impoverished city in Latin America.

As Šakić says, this is an incontestable truth, one that imposes itself as a result of the pressing need to industrialise every country. There are many factors that dictate the type of event a market is ready for, such as size, social relations, political infrastructure and international position, but in every developing country there should be a body of actors capable of helping to facilitate exhibitions and all the good they bring. In the opinion of Šakić, such a joint group should include representation from all, or at least the majority, of the following:

1. All official bodies of state
2. Chambers of commerce and trade
3. Professional associations and organisations of all economic branches
4. Banks
5. Trade unions
6. Scientific societies and institutions
7. Railways, airlines and transportation companies
8. PTT
9. Customs
10. Show and trade fair event organisations
11. Educational and cultural institutions
12. All factors of the so-called secondary and tertiary activities
13. General public opinion

“The prerequisite for the successful industrialisation of a country or a particular branch, is a coordinated and harmonised action of all these factors as this would provide a rhythmical, undisturbed and smooth progression of the process,” he says.

It is when such representation as Šakić believes is necessary falls short that a country’s industrialisation can slow down; in some cases the process as a whole can even come to a complete stop. 

“Several developing countries have endured negative experiences in this respect,” Šakić  says. “Through additional efforts, however, the majority of these countries have managed to master and overcome this insufficiency, and through synchronised activity they have been able to begin or continue the actions leading to industrialisation.”

These ‘additional efforts’ Šakić makes reference too, are frequently the actions of the global exhibition organiser. They play a significant role in the process of industrialisation and growth in developing countries.

We can, of course, take it as read that things can be difficult for organisers in emerging markets, but even in mature markets events can conspire and present tough challenges for the smooth operation of an exhibition industry.

Trade shows and exhibitions do present something of a quandary for businesses in more protective regions.

Imagine that you own a successful furniture shop in your home town, happily supplying chairs and tables to small businesses and individuals, and making enough money to educate your children, take your family away on holiday once or twice a year, and save for the future. Perhaps you are not the only person in the town who does this. Your neighbour also runs a furniture business, catering for a similar clientele, but in a town of this size both businesses are sustainable and co-exist happily enough, perhaps even to the benefit of the townspeople as the situation negates any chance of a monopoly and ultimately improves the quality of your – and your competitor’s – products through competition. And perhaps you two are not alone: the town has a reputation for making some of the finest furniture in the region, perhaps the world. 

One day a bright spark at the local government offices decides the town needs to shout about its furniture-making, and working together with a local businessman and venue owner the creation of a new furniture show to promote the town’s proud furniture heritage to a wider audience is announced.

Before long, 20 or 30 companies involved in furniture-making and related industries have gathered to pitch their wares to a crowd drawn from far and wide. The event is a great success. Your own orders are through the roof, and you have a new wood supplier. What’s more, your costs are down, the bottom line has improved and you’re shifting more product than ever. The show has an audience and develops a reputation as a place where furniture is bought and sold in great quantity. 

Then the local businessman who runs the show gets a call. Ten companies from outside the town have got word of what’s going on and want to have a chance to showcase their wares; they will pay handsomely for the privilege. The venue owner has upped his price because he knows the show is making plenty and there’s nowhere else large enough to house the event. The presiding businessman agrees to this increase; he’s in this to make money after all, as he is neither a furniture salesman nor a maker. He makes money from the event and the event alone. 

The ten new exhibitors are followed the subsequent year by 20 more, and before long the show has become the region’s defining furniture fair. Now 300 exhibitors man the stands from all over the world, and competition is fierce. The initial 20 or 30 traditional exhibitors from the town in which it is staged have to compete with low-cost providers from China, and modern, high-fashion design from Scandinavia and the UK. Their initial market now has choice and has become far more selective in where it goes for its furniture; the very nature of your traditional, rooted-in-the-region furniture has marginalised it to the point whereby it is seen as unimaginative, perhaps even dated.

Then the town is burdened by an economic crisis. Soon only the wealthy can afford your handmade furniture, and they are keen on differentiation anyway – they favour the clean-cut Nordic designs. The rest put their orders in at the Chinese stands, where they can get a lot more for their money if they are prepared to overlook the lack of a cherished brand or any other such mark of exclusivity.

Your market is no longer captive, and your orders start to dry up. With mounting panic you speak to the organisers and see if they will reduce your cost for attendance. They say the demand for space at the event is too high for that. So you contact the local government and see if they will provide financial assistance as befits a body hoping to promote local business. They do what they can and offer a grant here and there, but these are small gains. The outlook is bleak. 

But that is not where the story ends. 

One day, a friend suggests that you attend another event elsewhere, somewhere your products may be seen as new and interesting. And your work, due to its quality, does sell. Now, 60 per cent of your business comes from outside your home town, with many of these clients being from overseas. Almost without knowing it, you’ve moved to an export model.

And you don’t have to go it alone. Your local government friends, still keen to promote the town as a centre of excellence for furniture design, assist in the creation of a show pavilion for you and your local competitors. You make a unified attendance at a prestigious event, comprising only the best from the region. The inferior companies being carried by virtue of their location are seen for what they are, and by losing them your town’s identity as a place for quality furniture design and manufacture is improved.

Your business returns to strength.

This is the global economy in action and in it the merits of true competition are demonstrated clearly. And it is all facilitated by exhibitions. Although this furniture seller’s business may have been more secure in the early days, today he has a brand that stands out and trades in the international marketplace. It is influenced by trends and demands from around the world, it is created to internationally recognised standards, and it generates discussion that results in the progress of the industry.

In the UK at least, the fortunes of international destinations all-too-often lie in the hands of overpriced London agencies, typically staffed by eager-to-please affable types who pronounce their names unconventionally. And, sadly, seem to know nothing about the global exhibitions industry.

Press trips tailored for holiday, not business

I can count on one hand the number of times my press trips, tailored for the business event audience, made even a passing reference to the industrial character of the city we were in. (And you may be surprised to know they weren’t in the more advanced markets.)

Instead, they typically put us on a plane, show us the sights and showcase fine food and hospitality, which would be wonderful if I was on holiday. But as I’m updating an educated audience and not my Instagram account, it instead does the city or town a great disservice. When organisers choose the next location for their international event, it is not on the strength of the views from their potential rooms, but on the industries that those hotels support.

There is a clear reason many press trips take this format. Convention and Visitor Bureaus traditionally set out to achieve goals dictated and financed by the tourism ministry. So on the surface, this approach sort of makes sense; these goals are by and large fixated on attracting large conferences and events, which typically move between locations and are therefore subject to a different kind of pitch.

In reality, however, it betrays the fact that people don’t quite get what we in the exhibition industry do, outside of bringing the circus to town. And if they don’t get it, then how are the clients that pay these agencies fat stacks to put them on the map going to know any better?

Not my circus, not my monkeys

Wouldn’t it be great to see more destination marketing agencies use these opportunities to focus on the underlying market conditions, the blossoming industrial clusters and academic support networks, specifically to reach organisers of business events – and more specifically organisers of international trade shows.  Let’s not forget, unlike large peripatetic conferences, trade shows tend to hang around once they’ve selected a market that can sustain their event.

In Germany, this year’s Bauma drew more than 620,000 visitors from 200 countries (by its own account), which is mind-boggling (in part because it’s four more countries than even exist according to the United States – and more than can call themselves card-carrying members of the United Nations). It’s as if everyone in Montenegro decided to visit Munich and consider a career in construction.

When I consider the number of leads, capital and careers generated by this enormous crowd meeting with the 3,700 exhibitors from 63 countries vying for their custom; well I take immediate solace in the fact I’m here to provide you with words, not numbers.

Bauma owes its success in part to Munich’s central European location in Germany, which enjoys both a reputation for excellence in engineering and logistical benefits of belonging to the world’s largest trading union.

By equal measure, if you’re in the energy industry, it will come as no surprise at all to know that the next edition of DMG’s Gastech takes places in Houston, the US city currently undergoing developments in industrial gas complex development estimated at $50 billion. In fairness, anyone who reads a newspaper may have picked Texas out as a place where a company involved in oil could make money. The prevalence of widespread fracking in the US has recently removed North America’s reliance on OPEC, and Texas is synonymous with oil, so there’s a strong likelihood that there is business to be done here.

Silicon Valley, or Tallinn?

So ten years ago, when you were asked about nations that would evolve to become leaders in digital technology, the wood producing nation of Estonia would probably have raised eyebrows. Be honest; you were thinking about the pine trees surrounding Silicon Valley, not the ones surrounding Tallinn.

But today Estonia is ranked first overall in the InterNations survey for its digital infrastructure and is now home to unrestricted internet access and online government services, and as a result, many of the world’s leading online financial and transactional technologies are being developed here.

There are many markets home to smaller or more nascent markets that would present mutually beneficial opportunities for organisers. We just need to hear about them, in order to help tell you why you should be there.

Business events, the word is key

My company works with several trade promotion organisations that I would describe as having ‘got it’. Those that recognise business events are a function of trade and investment and not tourism, which is perhaps the least significant beneficiary of the whole trade-show ecosystem.

We are in the game of delivering business events, and that word is key. Trade shows by their very nature leave a legacy that is both lasting and lucrative. And success is more likely where partnership and support are forthcoming.

Agents in all branches of our far-reaching ecosystem need to walk the walk if we are to get where we want to go. Particularly those responsible for promoting their clients to us; we deal in trade, not tourism.