Review
Ds all round
Paul Woodward surveys a year of deals, disruption and dramatic
protests, and switches on some 2020 vision
f 2019 was the year
of deals, disruption
and debate in the
exhibitions industry,
what does 2020 hold? To suggest
more of the same with a dusting
of digital makes for a dull article,
although it would be rash to suggest
that everything is going to change
overnight to match the convenient
milestone of this new decade.
Of deals done, I’d have to say
that the PE-backed privatisation
of Tarsus was the only real ‘mega’
transaction in 2019. But, GL Events,
Clarion, EasyFairs, ITE/Hyve and
Tarsus itself were the star players
of the year just gone, with multiple
strategic investments around the
world. We can be pretty sure that all
of them are likely to remain active
buyers in 2020. I predict we will also
see the emergence of at least one or
two interesting new international
investors in the industry, and I
expect that one more mega deal will
be launched if not concluded before
the year is out.
Disruption has come from
multiple sources including, among
others, the US/China trade war, the
possibly linked issue of slowing
industrial/automotive industry
business in Germany, and the
unanticipated and potentially
rather catastrophic violent
protest movement in Hong Kong.
Stir in the spice of the ongoing
digital disruption in all aspects of
marketing and you have a heady
brew which will be keeping more
than a few CEOs awake at night.
We didn’t see the death of any
major shows in 2019, but the
warning signs have been gathering
around a few more big brands
during the course of the outgoing
year, leading to much debate about
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
what we’re
doing right
and what
we’re doing wrong.
I have previously accused the
industry of a dangerous degree of
complacency. By and large, I no
longer think that’s an issue. But
there is little agreement in the
debate raging around future trends,
and how we need to reorganise
what we do.
It remains alarming how few
companies have genuinely grasped
the digital challenge to enhance
their services and revenue streams,
and thus keeping their events
relevant to their customers. The
way forward is being signposted
by a few market leaders who
are integrating digital marketing
products and services deep into
Above:
Paul
Woodward,
Chairman
of Paul
Woodward
Advisory
their event offerings. More will have
to follow and to follow fast.
In terms of spinning the globe
and finding areas of interest in
2020, two have caught my eye. First,
Egypt may be set to re-emerge as a
genuinely important market in the
Middle East. Once the hub of the
industry in that part of the world,
it has a population of almost 100
million now wildly under-served by
exhibitions. At the same time, the
realisation of Iran’s promise as a
market seems once again set to be
batted off into the long grass as it’s
spat with the US and much of the
rest of the Middle East turns uglier.
Elsewhere, it is hard to ignore
the impact of the world’s largest
exhibition centre coming onstream
at Shenzhen World, in China. Hong
Kong’s new predilection for self-
destruction couldn’t come at a better
time for those tasked with filling
500,000sqm across the border.
The so-called Greater Bay Area, of
which Shenzhen is now clearly the
fulcrum, has emerged out of the era
of cheap manufacturing to become
one of the world’s most important
technology hubs. The new venue
has already allowed one long-
established Hong Kong business we
thought was fading into the sunset
to reinvigorate itself, and there will
no doubt be more to come.
“It is alarming how
few companies
have grasped the
digital challenge
to enhance their
services and
revenue streams.”
Issue 1 2020 21