No resumption of international trade fairs before 2021 according to UFI

UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) has just published its bimonthly barometer analysing trends and developments in the exhibition industry over the first half of 2020. The barometer provides an initial summary of the impact of COVID on this part of the MICE industry. The study received responses from 459 companies and businesses in 62 countries and regions. 
By Luc Citrinot -
Ajaccio Convention Centre

The barometer shows that in January, 85% of companies said they considered their level of activity to be "normal".Most of the companies questioned felt that the pandemic would remain confined to China.

The rise in pessimism was all the more rapid thereafter. As early as March, only 15% of the companies in the barometer were still describing their business as normal. Between April and June, this percentage had fallen to between 5 % and 6 %. In April and May, 73 % of companies in the exhibition industry reported no activity.

The majority of companies surveyed expected a recovery in "local" and "national" trade fairs in the second half of 2020. However, this recovery is likely to be slow, with two out of three companies expecting to see a return to reduced activity only in the fourth quarter. At the same time, a majority (54%) felt that the return of international trade fairs would not take place before the first half of 2021The majority of companies (60%) thought that their business would recover, either fully or to a lesser extent, in September, with confidence peaking in November at 68%.

However, there were variations from one continent to another. Unsurprisingly, the Asia-Pacific region was the first to experience a drop in activity. As early as January, only 73% of companies reported operating under "normal" conditions, a figure that had already fallen to 45% by February. The most pessimistic are companies based in the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America. In these two regions, a majority of companies expected that national exhibitions and trade fairs would not open until 2021.

The barometer also highlights the fact that 87% of MICE industry players worldwide have reduced their operating costs, 17% of them even managed to reduce their overall costs by more than 50%. We note that 44% of companies in the sector have succeeded in obtaining financial support at global level.

44% of companies in the sector suspended their investments, while the industry as a whole estimated that the measures taken to comply with the Covid-19 protocols had accounted for more than 10 % of their overall costs.

Asked what legacy the pandemic will leave on the exhibition industry, most of the companies in the UFI barometer said that it is digitalisation that has most transformed the working environment. 60% felt that digitisation had had a significant or very significant impact, while 69% said they had increased their investment in this area.. On the other hand, programmes on diversity or the sustainability of the sector were deemed to have little influence on investment or working methods.

Real face-to-face meetings will continue to be held

Will digitisation eventually replace face-to-face contact? The response from the companies surveyed is nuanced and varies from region to region. According to the barometer, 57% of the companies questioned are convinced that covid-19 has not affected the need to meet physically at trade fairs.. However, this is not the end of the story, 82% of them think that future trade fairs and exhibitions will be hybrid events in which the digital element will be very present.
A minority of 17% agree with the idea that virtual events will replace physical events. A majority (56%) believe that there will be fewer international trade fairs and exhibitions in the future and with fewer participants.
However, optimism is still the order of the day. When asked whether the sector would recover quickly, 19% of companies said yes, and 38% said "very likely".

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