UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has released the latest 32nd edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer research which takes the pulse of the industry.
The survey was concluded in January 2024, and provides insights from 419 companies, across 61 countries and regions. It was conducted in collaboration with 31 UFI member associations.
The results highlight that in most markets around the world the exhibition industry fully recovered from the pandemic slump in 2023, with revenues reaching a comparable level to 2019, on average. The outlook for 2024 is very positive, with revenues expected to grow by an average of 15%, setting the industry up to record the highest ever revenue levels in 2024.
Globally, 52% of companies declare that they plan to increase their workforce in the coming six months, and 45% declare that they will keep current staff numbers stable.
Operations
The level of operations has picked up in the second half of 2023, with a large majority of companies from all regions (77% in the Middle East and Africa to 57% in North America) declaring an increase.
This trend will continue in 2024 with, on average, a percentage of companies reporting an increased activity ranging from 66% in North America to 64% in the Middle East and Africa, 55% in Asia/Pacific, and 54% in Central and South America and Europe respectively.
Turnover and operating profits
2023 witnessed the full recovery of exhibitions, with revenues reaching a comparable level to 2019, on average. The outlook is very positive, with 2024 revenues expected to grow by an average of 15%.
Revenues from 2023 compared to 2019 vary from 127% in India, 120% in Spain, and 110% in Italy, to 88% in Colombia and 85% in South Africa, or to 82% in Germany and 80% in Thailand
Revenues from 2024 compared to 2019 vary from 154% in India 151% in Greece to 99% in China and 94% in South Africa.
In terms of operating profits compared to 2019 levels, around half of the companies are declaring an increase of more than 10% for 2023, and one in four a stable one. Compared to 2022, six companies out of 10 are declaring an increase of more than 10%.
The highest proportion of companies expecting a profit increase of more than 10% when compared to 2019 are in the UAE (91%), Saudi Arabia (80%), India (71%), Brazil (67%), and Mexico (64%).
Workforce development
Globally, 52% of companies declare that they plan to increase their staff numbers in the coming six months, and 45% declare that they will keep current staff numbers stable.
The highest proportion of companies planning to add staff are identified in Saudi Arabia (100%), the UAE (82%), India (80%), Greece (73%) and Malaysia (67%).
Most pressing issues
This edition highlights significant shifts when compared to the previous edition of the Barometer released six months ago:
The most pressing business issue declared in this edition is “State of the economy in home market” (22% of answers globally - compared with 14% six months ago - and the main issue in all regions, and most markets).
Overall, “Global economic developments” come in as the second most important issue globally (17% of answers, compared to 12% six months ago), followed by “Geopolitical challenges” (12%).
“Internal management challenges” (10%) and “Impact of digitalisation” (6%), which were the top two issues six months ago (with 21% and 17% of answers respectively), are now also preceded by “Competition from within the exhibition industry” (11%) and “Sustainability / Climate” (10%).
Generative AI applications
The areas expected to be most affected by the development of AI are: “Sales, Marketing and Customer relations” and “Research & Development” (both 80%) and “Event production” (65%).
These are precisely the areas where generative AI applications are mostly used already (37%, 35%, and 20% respectively).
