UFI Congress
their exceptional contributions to the global exhibition industry at large and the UFI community in particular.
This year, the UFI Trio selected Chen Xianjin, Michael Duck, Jo-Anne Kelleway and Cliff Wallace.
Finally, leading organisers explored personalisation, festivalisation and the shift to year-round communities.
On the Friday, UFI’ s Next Generation Leaders took to the stage, presenting fresh perspectives on exhibition formats.
The Insight Series sessions brought together UFI Award winners and Working Groups for interactive discussions on digital innovation, marketing, HR, sustainability, and more.
Participants explored real-world case studies and co-created ideas for tackling industry challenges, from customerdriven innovation to sustainable F & B.
Incoming UFI president for 2026 / 2027, Wolfram Diener, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, provided some candid insight into broader challenges:“ It ' s been a good year. It’ s not been our best year. For a large proportion of our shows, we are not back to pre-Covid levels when it comes to visitor numbers.” This reality, he explained, requires organisers to“ stretch ourselves to get more customer insights, to learn how to have a very focused approach towards different visitor groups.”
Diener outlined his vision emphasising two key priorities.“ As a global association, we have to embrace the entire world. You should not only pay attention to developed markets, you should also pay attention to emerging markets. I believe that as a global association, we can make a special contribution to the development of those new and emerging markets.”
His second priority addresses engagement challenges arising from geopolitical shifts.“ We need to draw attention to embracing Chinese members of UFI in a better way in the future. Against the backdrop of the geopolitical changes, the Chinese members got a little bit disengaged with UFI.” With Chinese members representing almost 30 % of UFI membership, this focus carries significant implications for the association ' s effectiveness in the world ' s second-largest exhibition market.
Bate-Papo Corner Alongside the sessions, delegates joined lively discussions and exchanged insights at the Bate-Papo Corner, a new format side stage that debuted at this year’ s Congress.
To extend the reach of the conversations beyond the event, all sessions were recorded and released as UFI Bate-Papo Unplugged podcasts, which are now available to stream on Spotify.
Medal of Honour recipients UFI president Hugh Jones presented the recipients of this year’ s UFI Medal of Honour, who were all recognised for
New UFI president for 2025-26 UFI welcomed Panittha Buri, vicechairperson of BHIRAJ BURI GROUP, as the association’ s new president for the 2025-26 year.
Buri succeeds Hugh Jones, CEO of RX. In 2026, both will serve as part of UFI’ s Trio, which includes the association’ s incoming, present, and outgoing presidents.
They will be joined by incoming president Wolfram Diener, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf.
Conclusion of centennial celebrations Throughout the week in Hong Kong, a series of special activations celebrated 100 years of UFI, including the UFI- 100 Expo Corner, which showcased historic milestones over the past century, and a 1920s-themed Welcome Reception that paid tribute to the association’ s founding era.
UFI also launched its new website, designed to mark the centenary and elevate member value through improved functionality, refreshed design, and expanded resources.
Beyond the sessions, delegates had the opportunity to experience the beauty of this year’ s host city. Highlights included the Congress Dinner at the M + Museum, with sweeping views over Victoria Harbour, as well as the Tram Party and evening in the iconic Lan Kwai Fong district.
Delegates also enjoyed post- Congress tours showcasing the very best of Hong Kong.
In 2026, the 93rd UFI Global Congress will take place 2-5 November in Manama, Bahrain, hosted by Exhibition World Bahrain. For 2027, Guadalajara, Mexico, has been selected as the host destination. EW www. exhibitionworld. co. uk Issue 6 2025 41