Tapping in to the Guadalajara Factor
EW takes a closer look at the Latin American market as UFI digitally gathers the region ’ s clans for its Latam Conference
ith global association of the exhibition industry UFI ’ s Latin America Conference taking place 10-12 August , this year as a digitalonly event , industry leaders from the region were set to discuss common strategies for different realities in Latin America and beyond .
Led by Ana-Maria Arango , UFI regional director for Latin America , this year ’ s conference lined up over 30 experts and industry leaders from across the region as speakers .
Sessions were to be broadcast live from Colombia in Spanish , and with a Portuguese and English translation .
Arango and her team had designed a programme focused on dialogue between participants “ rich in content , aligned with the challenges of the industry and also providing an opportunity to have some fun ”.
Guadalajara Factor In the run up to the conference EW ’ s guest editor Paul Woodward examined how an initiative in one city can influence a whole region . In Latin America , it ’ s called ‘ The Guadalajara Factor ’.
By late summer last year , after a half year of closure with major venues converted to hospitals , exhibition organisers in Mexico were very uncertain about the future . “ The only thing we had clear is that nobody knew when ( and we still don ’ t really know ) it ’ s going to be ending ,” said José Navarro , director general of organiser Tarsus Mexico . But , in September , the team at Expo Guadalajara , the largest venue in Mexico , decided that they would push ahead with their fashion show , InterModa . “ They really did something remarkable for our industry ,” said Navarro . “ They are pioneers .”
The venue is owned by the local chambers of commerce which organises its own events . It worked closely with other organisations , the city and state governments and was able to implement a plan to reopen .
“ They arranged all safety protocols to be able to open and sent a good message to the industry all around Mexico . Other venues started to follow the lead from Guadalajara ,” Navarro explained . And organiser Tarsus followed up with an October
Top : José Navarro , director general , Tarsus Mexico
Above : Paulo Picolo , CEO , NürnbergMesse Brasil
Left : Ana-Maria Arango , UFI regional director for Latin America restaurant show in Mexico City . And not just Mexico . Navarro is chair of UFI ’ s Latin America Chapter and says that venues around the region were also inspired by this example . “ The Guadalajara Factor was simple in its essence , that you can achieve things if you do the proper coordination and lobbying with the authorities . And that ’ s what they did .”
With many exhibitors uncertain and considering postponing exhibiting for a year , Navarro ’ s team agreed to work with another organiser which had a similar event that , with reschedulings , would have taken place within a week of the Tarsus show . “ We said , let ’ s do the show together . You are not at 100 % capacity , and we are in the same position ,” Navarro recalled . “ We had a good show . This sent an important message to the rest of the industry . In a crisis we need to work together .”
This working together extended to organisers cross-promoting each other ’ s events . Even with this level of co-operation , shows are still much smaller than in pre-pandemic times .
For the shows coming up in Mexico after this summer , exhibitor levels are about 65 % of pre-pandemic , according to Navarro , who does not see digital activities as a full solution . “ None of this strategy brings you a person with a pen to sign a contract .”
Heading south into Central and South America , the Great Reset is slowly occurring despite ongoing challenges of the virus . Paulo Picolo , CEO of NürnbergMesse Brasil is encouraged by statements from the governor of São Paulo that by mid- September a high proportion of adults there will have been vaccinated . Provided test events are successful , events could resume within weeks . By the end of the year , Picolo believes the pressure on venue space , which has been an issue in the country ’ s main business city for a number of years , will return as their biggest problem .
Patagonia Down in Patagonia , GL Events ’
12 Issue 4 2021 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk