City report
Guadalajara’s Mexican
exhibition wave
f Cancun has been
branded ‘Latin
America Lite’ for
the US market, then
Mexico’s second city Guadalajara
can be considered the real deal
for those keen on an authentic
experience. Claimed as the home
of the mariachi, tequila and the
charrería (rodeo), Guadalajara is
ramping up its appeal also as a host
for international events.
Guadalajara is known as Mexico’s
Pearl of the West. Its venue ‘pearl’
is Expo Guadalajara - the largest
Convention Centre in Mexico with
100,000sqm of space.
The facility hosts 500 events,
17,000 exhibitors and 2m visitors
per year and the city, as a whole,
hosts seven out of the 10 largest
exhibitions held in Mexico. In
2018, Expo Guadalajara hosted 87
exhibitions, 11 of which were new.
Guadalajara is the 2nd most
important city in Mexico and offers
strong industry sectors in fashion,
footwear and textile; apparel;
jewellery and furniture.
Gustavo Staufert, CEO of
Guadalajara Conventions & Visitors
Bureau, says: “Guadalajara is the
hometown for the second largest
and most important bookfair in the
world, FIL” FIL does not stay inside
the Expo, but is rather a full-on
book party right through the city,
with many parallel events.
Guadalajara is also a high-tech
hub and Staufert flags the Talent
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Land exhibition as one successful
showcase for young talent in
the IT field. “Talent Land is the
get-together for more than 60,000
youngsters from all over Latin
America,” Staufert notes, and
lists other key exhibitions in the
city as: Department Stores and
Supermarkets, the International
Hardware Fair, Expo Alimentaria,
Expo Furniture and Expo Jewellery.
“I say without fear of
contradiction that Guadalajara is
one of the Top 3 cities for tradefairs
within the continent,” he adds.
The CVB reports bids in the
pipeline for events in the fields of
technology, research, medicine,
health, social and government,
sports and LGBT.
The city has a ‘Zona Expo’,
effectively the headquarters of the
largest fairground in Latin America,
with 30 hotels.
The event mix is more than
tequila and mariachi. Guadalajara
has a fast-growing food industry
and Mexico’s most important food
expo, ANTAD, comes to town for
three days in March. This is a joint
effort by Alimentaria Exhibitions
- Fira de Barcelona, ANTAD and
the National Retailers Association
of Mexico, which estimates 25,000
visitors and 2,300 exhibitors
attended this year’s show.
Congresses in the city which
entail an exhibition element
include:
• The Worldwide Cardio Diabetes
Congress, September 2019, 500 pax
• The International Congress of
Latin American Studies Association
(LASA), May 2020, 7,000 pax
• Engineering in Medicine and
Biology (EMBS) 2021, 4,000 pax
• 37th World Congress of Sports
Medicine 2022 (FIMS) September
2022, 3,000 pax
Factbox:
2
World Heritage
sites: Hospicio
Cabanas and
Agave Fields
Flights serve
• 21th Congress of the International
Society of Burn Injuries ISBI August
2024, 1,500 pax.
Chief Marketing Officer of
BCOCongress and ICCA First Vice-
President, Juan José García has
worked with city leaders to bring
business to Guadalajara and says:
“Guadalajara has positioned itself
as one of the preferred, if not the
preferred, destinations in Mexico
for hosting international events.
“The city has the right
infrastructure, including a
huge modern venue like Expo
Guadalajara, but, more importantly,
it is a destination that understands
how to work as a team, involving
the key players of the local market.
“The Guadalajara Convention
Bureau is pro-active and works very
closely with Expo Guadalajara as
well as all the local hotel industry to
attract events. They help organisers
a lot. The people are professional
and understand our business - not
always the case in destinations.
“We recently worked together
on a bid presentation for a huge
international medical event and the
collaboration was
fabulous.
“On top of
that you have a
destination that
is well connected,
and a draw to
all kind of event
organisers.”
57
destinations,
24 in the US
22
22 arenas and
stadiums
2
congress
centres
50
museums and
galleries
900
restaurants
23,500
hotel
rooms
Issue 4 2019
45