Preparations are underway for Global Exhibitions Day (#GED17) on 7 June 2017, and UFI is inviting people around the world to get involved.
Global Exhibitions Day is a chance to celebrate the exhibition industry and highlight its positive impact on jobs, business, innovation and local investment.
Online, and through an array of national and local events, people on every continent are expected to join the GED17 campaign, from venues and organisers to students, local partners and public authorities.
“UFI is calling on everyone working in exhibitions and trade shows to take part in Global Exhibitions Day on 7 June, and share their initiatives loud and proud,” said Dr Andreas Gruchow, president of UFI, which built the global GED network last year and coordinates the global effort together with a GED17 task force.
“In 2016 the inaugural GED brought our industry together for the first time ever to promote the value of exhibitions worldwide. It created a real buzz, and GED17 will be even bigger: it’s an exciting joint global effort that looks set to grow every year,” said Dr Gruchow.
UFI’s network of national exhibition associations, exhibition professionals are already stepping up with plans for GED17 activities in their countries.
With the title Think Global, Act Local, GED17 puts a focus on the human side of face-to-face exhibitions. It will highlight the business and marketing opportunities, diverse jobs, inspirational exchanges and local investment created by the exhibition industry worldwide.
To show the value of exhibitions, UFI estimates that:
- Over 260 million visitors – and 4.4 million exhibiting companies – attend exhibitions every year
- Exhibitions give generate a high return on investment for participants. On average, for every euro spent, exhibiting companies get two euros return before the end of the show – and eight euros return in total within three to ten months after the exhibition
- Visitors and companies spend around EUR 98bn (US$109bn) going to exhibitions each year
- About half of this expenditure benefits the exhibition industry directly (organisers, venues), and the other half goes into local tourism-related activities (accommodation, transport)
- The exhibition industry provides 680,000 full time equivalent jobs in sales, marketing, operations and other fields
These figures and other messaging about the exhibition industry are available on UFI’s website for all to share during the GED17 campaign.
In 2016, the first ever Global Exhibitions Day mobilised thousands of industry professionals from 60 countries. National events and company-wide GED activities included LiveCom Academy, Let’s Meet at the Fair, a ‘sympathy sleepout’ and a GED run.
