UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and event data collection firm Explori have released the third part of their Global Recovery Insights report, the first of which was released in October 2020 as the industry began to recovery from the effects of the pandemic.
The results of this latest report signal an optimistic outlook for the industry as demand for live events from both attendees and exhibitors has returned to pre-pandemic levels. The survey was conducted over the summer and included 15,00 responses from trade show exhibitors and attendees in over 30 countries.
Specific findings from the report clearly show that in-person trade shows aren’t going anywhere – 72 percent of existing attendees and 62 percent of exhibitors indicated in the survey that moving forward, they plan to attend trade shows as often or more often than they did before the pandemic. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, given that trade shows have largely struggled to provide the same value in a virtual format.
“The report gives plenty of reasons for optimism, including quelling doubts about a possible shift away from live events and indicating which shows are likely to bounce back quickly,” said UFI CEO Kai Hattendorf in a statement. “At a time where physical trade shows are restarting around the world, we hope that these findings will help the industry to a fast recovery and beyond.”
In addition, UFI notes that spending has been less affected by the pandemic as many feared, with 45 percent of exhibitors anticipating that their budgets will return to normal in the next 12 months. More exhibitors have begun weighing attendee quality as opposed to quantity in their decisions to invest in a trade show, and in general, they are not making significant investments in digital although some are using it to test new events and deliver content.
Notably, senior marketing decision makers in the US and UK who were not conducting marketing activities at trade shows before the pandemic represented a new group surveyed for this report. This group indicated that they intend to continue investing in digital events and also plan to exhibit at in-person shows moving forward.
Explori Managing Director Sophie Holt added: “Whilst the need for some exhibitors to make savings remains, the Global Recovery Insights reflects the optimism felt by the exhibition industry, that live events will soon return to pre-pandemic levels.”
The full report is available for download to SISO and UFI members.