Dirk Van Roy
CEO of Artexis
Artexis is an exhibition organiser of 27 fairs. We use only overseas sales agents for one of our main shows, Stone Expo in Belgium, which is the only trade fair in the Benelux for stones and ceramics.
It’s a strategy we intend to implement for Realty, a real estate business show. Realty attracts multiple foreign visitors and investors. In our view, overseas agents can be useful and complementary.
However, we already attract hosted buyers to some of our events ourselves. These actions are internally organised by our own teams, since they know the sector best.
The question on whether to use overseas agents or not is difficult to answer. You should take into account various aspects like your available time. If you have to move forward quickly, it would be better to use third parties because of their experience and local contacts. However, if you have time to organise it on your own, you could choose to do it yourself.
Since we are an internationally growing company (Artexis Nordic, easyFairs) we understand the value of local contacts.
Visitor promotion and attracting hosted buyers are part of the core competencies of an organiser and that is why this job should be done internally. After several editions, your database will be very well balanced. It takes investment in people and tasks to handle this operation smoothly. But it should always be a rolling database on which one works all the time by filling in new buyers, with a continual cleaning of the names and addresses on your records.
At Artexis we are convinced that bringing these buyers to our fairs will result in an even better meeting and market place.
Supawan Teerarat
Exhibitions Director at TCEB
TCEB is a government agency dedicated to supporting, promoting and developing the MICE industry in Thailand. We do not act as an organiser, but instead offer our services as a supporter and facilitator.
Our representatives overseas do not act as sales agents. They will act for TCEB in promoting Thailand as a marketplace for the ASEAN exhibition platform and to implement our marketing campaigns to increase the number of overseas delegates coming to exhibitions in Thailand, along with promoting exhibition calendars and highlighting flagship shows in our country.
These representatives also act as a one-stop consultant to help organise shows in Thailand.
We hope these measures will leave us well prepared for the full establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, which should be completed by 2015.
TCEB has designed many supporting measures to serve this readiness. For our key buyers, we have two related campaigns.
The ‘A Hundred Ahead’ initiative provides financial support for group trade visitors, and aims to help organisers increase the number of international group trade visitors. It creates links for improved collaboration between local and overseas associations.
Another campaign is ‘Be My Guest’, offering complimentary night stays to organisers to give to their key buyers.
Gary Corin
MD of Specialised Exhibitions
Specialised Exhibitions has been organising trade shows in South Africa since 1968.
We, along with the joint venture arm to our business Montgomery Africa, constitute a portfolio of diverse event offerings from building to mining, hospitality, security, marketing and many more.
The trade shows we run have moved from representing total local market content to providing a significant platform to international companies seeking to penetrate not only the South African market but also Sub-Saharan Africa.
In order to facilitate this interest and growth in our exhibitions, we have found it both effective and efficient to appoint international agents. These agents facilitate the participation of companies within respective vertical markets at our trade exhibitions.
To illustrate the success of such partnerships, we have utilised the services of OTSA (Overseas Trade Show Agencies) in the UK, to facilitate the exhibiting experience of European companies at South African exhibitions.
OTSA has access to numerous European markets and is a respected agent. The company also has key relationships with both multinational and smaller entrepreneurial companies looking for export opportunities in Africa.
Through a mutual collaboration and structured combination of fee and commission incentives, agent-based sales relationships are adding significant value for all players – exhibitors, visitors and organisers alike.
International sales agents will continue to play a vital role within our market space. The relevance of the services they provide, we believe, will continue to grow.
Michael Hofer
Director of PR at Messe Berlin
Messe Berlin has a worldwide agent network that consists of 72 foreign representatives in more than 130 countries.
Our aim is to provide exhibitors and visitors with a knowledgeable local contact for Messe Berlin’s events, trade fairs and congresses. By working closely with our foreign representatives, we gain insight and vital information which assists our work here in Berlin greatly, for example with government funding, visa regulations, cultural and legal issues.
Our agent in the UK and Ireland is OTSA, who we have been working with successfully for more than 20 years. OTSA is a specialist sales and marketing company for international trade shows, and represents a wide portfolio of our shows including IFA (consumer electronics), InnoTrans (transport), ITB (travel and tourism) and the ILA Berlin Air Show.
For us, OTSA significantly increased the space taken by UK companies at two of our most important shows held in 2011 – ITB Berlin and IFA.
In the face of economic uncertainty, OTSA used more sophisticated and targeted sales methods to increase both the number of exhibitors and visitors participating.
Our representatives, like OTSA, are the main contacts for all of our events and will assist companies in their territories. By utilising their knowledge about our shows and market, Messe Berlin will continue to invest in agents to sustain our position as a leading international organiser.
This was first published in the Issue 2/2012 edition of Exhibition World. Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
