Research
Voice of the
industry
report
s the Covid-19
shutdown continues
to adversely affect the
exhibition industry,
GRS Research & Strategy’s new
report, The Voice of the Exhibition
Industry, examines the view of trade
show professionals.
The research was divided in four
main sections: Current situation,
Forecast, Scenario, Virtual events.
The report asked those surveyed
to comment on the current state
of their business and events, what
they perceive to be some of the most
critical issues they face and what
place digital events might hold in the
industry going forward.
When asked about the current
state of affairs, 89% of respondents
said that they have moved or
cancelled at least one event due to
the coronavirus pandemic.
10.1%
Moved and/or cancelled events
10.6%
89%
Moved and/
or cancelled
events
25.3%
54.0%
Moved and/or cancelled
Moved
Neither moved nor cancelled
Cancelled
When it came to some of the issues
that might affect the industry
as it starts to return to business,
visitors’ willingness and ability to
travel topped the list, followed by
lack of revenue/cash flow and the
issues that might arise from events
struggling finding space on the
calendar for the remainder of 2020
and into 2021.
26.9%
19,4%
Visitors not willing or able to travel
Lack of revenues / cash flow issues
Overlapping calendar of other events
Availability of venues to re-schedule
Cyclicality and seasonality of the market
Availability of some key exhibitors
Non-recoverable expenses /
increase in costs
Other
14,9% 14,6%
8.2%
7.5%
5.2%
3.4%
In terms of threats that the
industry may face in the coming
months, 41.6% of respondents cited
exhibitors’ tradeshow budgets as an
area of concern, as the regular cycle
of annual and biennial shows has
been disrupted. Travel restrictions
for buyers and exhibitors were once
again reported as a major threat to
the industry.
When it came to digital events,
65.2% of event organisers have
already offered workshops and
webinars (or plan to do it within
the next six months). The report
found that 43.6% plan to offer
matchmaking solutions, which
is considered to be the initiative
that more than others will remain
post-emergency, according to 87%
of respondents who are investing in
this direction.
Webinars: 65.2%
Virtual events: 45.4%
Digital matchmaking: 43.6%
22.3%
In terms of forecasting ahead, 73%
of respondents said they would
have at least one event in the last
quarter of 2020 (37% even earlier, in
Q3-2020).
Upcoming scheduled events
In Q3 2020 (July-September)
– E-commerce
11.3% – No new initiatives
37.5%
In Q4 2020 (October-December)
In Q1 2021 (January-March)
57.4%
In Q2 2021 (April-June)
48.6%
73.0%
Looking to the recovery of the
industry, most respondents
predicted that it would take one
edition of an event before it could
return to pre-Covid-19 levels of
attendance, but at least two before
achieving pre-Covid-19 revenue.
Attendance by national visitors
and exhibitors should go back
to what it was before within two
editions, whereas the presence of
international guests and revenues
in general will take longer.
18 Issue 4 2020 www.exhibitionworld.co.uk