JWC's CEO Jochen Witt runs down the top stories in the exhibition world.
SOUTH KOREA
Recently, South Korea has shown an average year-on-year increase of 6 per cent in sold net space for three years. Its exhibition industry is bolstered by quality venues, like KINTEX and COEX, good service levels, active government support and a solid base of international organisers. The latter continue to expand its presence with Reed Exhibitions acquiring four shows from K.Fairs and co-organising Franchise Seoul with COEX.
UK
After Britain voted in favour of leaving the EU, there is sustained uncertainty about what this will mean for the UK’s and Europe’s trade fair industry, which often mirrors economic developments. The slump of the pound and stock markets demonstrated a sharp reaction. Organiser share prices reacted negatively, but started to pick up again just a few days later.
FRANCE
UNIMEV has recently published its annual statistics report on the exhibition and conference business in France. Figures indicate that 2015 was a difficult year for France and its exhibition industry. Visitor numbers in particular have declined in the last year due to the terror attacks in Paris. This development is a strong indication that terrorism is a high threat to a successful exhibition industry and will be a major concern for the coming years. Apart from the UNIMEV figures, many projects for the building and redevelopment of exhibition and congress venues are in place. One of the main projects to start at the end of this year is the construction of a new exhibition venue in Toulouse, covering a hall capacity of 70,000sqm at an investment of €311m and with construction due to be finished in 2020.
GERMANY
E-commerce company Zalando bought fashion show Bread & Butter in 2015, after its organiser filed for bankruptcy. The first edition in January was cancelled, however the show will occur in September. Zalando then announced a new concept in East Berlin. 20,000 visitors are expected to see about 25 exhibitors, including Nike. It will be interesting to see the approach of an e-commerce company and whether this will influence the traditional exhibition business model in the future.
EUROPE
The European Court of Justice has made a judgment on brand piracy of major importance for marketplaces, as well as trade fair business. According to the decision, operators of a marketplace (i.e. trade show organisers) have to avoid brand piracy in their marketplace. The court made clear that rules for online retailers apply to physical marketplaces. The decision will place additional burden on organisers, as they will have to put measures in place which avoid brand piracy at their events.
CHINA
Preparations for the construction of the new venue in Shenzhen (SZICEC) are well underway. A call for tenders for the land investment and the management of SZICEC was issued recently. All submissions for the operating and the investment part are due on 26 August 2016. A final decision for the selection of the investor and the operator is expected to be made in September. Located in Shenzhen Airport New Town, the structure is set to become the largest exhibition venue in the world.
GERMANY
Two of the largest German exhibition venues are expanding their capacity in the coming years. Messe München, which is expecting record sales of more than €400m in 2016, has recently started to build a new conference area and two new exhibition halls, each with a capacity of 10,000sqm bringing the total capacity to 200,000sqm. The additional capacity addresses the space requirements for major shows like bauma, IFAT and ISPO Munich.
ITALY
The Italian economy as well as its trade fair business have not recovered from the financial crisis. Fiera di Roma appears to be struggling financially and operationally. Some Italian trade fair companies are restructuring as a result: Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza are merging, with a final decision expected at close 2016; Fiera di Parma attempts to strengthen its position with a joint venture with Koelnmesse, aiming to further expand their expertise in the area of food technology.
