Europe
No ties at the RAI but business back on track
rom zero to one hundred
F and beyond in just one year … That ’ s perhaps the best way to summarise 2022 for RAI Amsterdam , so reads the Dutch venue ’ s recent Annual Report .
The first multi-day events started returning to the RAI Amsterdam late in March 2022 as the Covid restrictions were lifted , since when the halls have been rarely empty .
Last year saw a turnover of € 118m as the RAI achieved a profit of € 8 . m . Nearly 1.2 million people visited the exhibition and conference venue and 300 ( inter ) national events ( three of which were outside the Netherlands ) took place in 2022 .
Major trade exhibitions and conferences included the International Broadcasting Convention ( IBC ), Intertraffic and PLMA .
Economic impulse Events at the RAI give a major economic impulse to the city and the region . The RAI processed some 27,000 hotel bookings in 2022 , representing 90,000 overnight stays . Other hospitality venues and retail outlets also benefit from these visitors . Exhibitor and visitor numbers at the end of 2022 were largely back to pre-Covid levels and the RAI reports extending contracts with various major international organisers until at least 2026 .
Sustainability The RAI is also working on reducing food waste . Leftovers , lunches and dinners are prepared in collaboration with the Salvation Army and distributed to the homeless . And there are free parking spaces available for those with walking difficulties . And during major events , there are special ‘ donation rooms ’ where organisers and exhibitors can leave their leftover materials for good causes in Amsterdam .
The venue is working with the RAI Logistics Management System to spread the freight deliveries . Drivers have time slots so that they no longer have to wait . This also cuts down noise nuisance for local residents . And trucks now come in on one side of the RAI and leave the complex on the other side , near the motorway .
Stand building is modular and sustainable and the materials are stored around the RAI and constantly reused .
EW asked RAI COO , Maurits van der Sluis for his take on the recovery :
“ We reopened properly in the spring of 2022 and were ready , albeit having to deal with a war , energy crisis and staff shortage . Exhibitions with an international audience quickly returned to their old level , although national exhibitions took a little longer ,” says van der Sluis . It was the large events such
The RAI Amsterdam
Maurits van der Sluis , COO of the RAI Amsterdam
“ The only thing that seems to be permanently gone is the tie . I don ’ t
see them anywhere .” as Interclean that recovered the quickest , he notes .
“ You can never compensate for the lost turnover of 2020 and 2021 . Mediocre concepts that were already struggling showed their weakness in the Corona period and they did not survive . Very simply : if an exhibition is healthy and relevant , it will come back after Corona . If people haven ’ t missed you , you ’ re gone .”
So , what has fundamentally changed in the business ?
“ Sure , we liked those digital parties in the beginning , but we soon had enough . I don ’ t see a hybrid business model for trade shows . At large conferences , people still want to meet each other ,” says van der Sluis .
“ Certainly , we had studios ready [ for hybrid ], but not much use has been made of them . Trading and meeting is contrived online ,” he says . “ The only thing that seems to be permanently gone in our industry is the tie . I don ’ t see them anywhere .”
The COO thinks the Metaverse will do something for the business and is a believer in building all year round communities .
“ We see the meeting as the apotheosis of the community and we will increasingly function as a matchmaker . We can bring people together physically and digitally . The problem is that there is no direct revenue model for us in digital .
“ We are also looking for partnerships and are the world leader in the field of water technology fairs . That is a field where you have a lot of communities and we put a lot of energy into setting up partnerships with parties that have built up an audience .”
Van der Sluis adds that the RAI lost almost € 200m in turnover which it will never get back , but says the focus now is on the core business . “ The occupancy of the RAI Amsterdam is good and we can grow internationally with our own exhibitions ,” he concludes .
20 Issue 3 2023 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk