Interview
Shanghai show very much back on the road
Michael Kruppe , general manager , Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre ( SNIEC ), tells EW the venue is booked up once again , for three years ahead
Bring us up to speed on events in Shanghai and how exhibitions in particular , are faring currently ? After zero expos for all venues in Shanghai in 2022 and just a view in other parts of China , we restarted as of March 2023 and until now almost all shows are running very busy .
Some of them are even better than 2019 , so in general we are expecting a good 2023 and 2024 to be back to pre-Covid figures .
As the CEO of SNIEC , what challenges and opportunities have emerged in the current market conditions for events ? How has the SNIEC adapted to these conditions ? The main problems during Covid , of course , was controlling safety and security and this now also continues past Covid . This means we still need to control the flow of people , general security and traffic . Also the Shanghai government is much stricter than before Covid , thus leading to higher costs on safety control management in general .
Looking ahead , what events are planned at the SNIEC ? Can you highlight any upcoming notable exhibitions ? We are almost booked out for the coming three years , as we were before Covid . This means that almost all old shows will remain , which is super , especially for our large expos like bauma , Furniture , PTC / Cemat , CBE ( beauty expo ), KBC , etc . However , this also means that there are not too many free slots for new shows .
Sustainability has become a crucial aspect of event management . How does the SNIEC prioritise sustainability in its operations ? Can you share any initiatives or strategies implemented to reduce the environmental impact of events ? Absolutely . Whereas primarily the carbon footprint ratio is roughly 80 %, the expo itself and 20 % the venue , we as a venue have started by optimising operation flows , i . e for traffic , parking , garbage , etc . We also started to use LED lights and are considering offsetting carbon volumes . It ’ s a long way to go but a long journey always starts with the first step and this we have done .
Could you provide an update on the events industry in China ? What trends do you foresee for the future ? It may be a bit too early , as 2023 is the year to stabilise . Certainly , we see more B2C elements being integrated into B2B shows and also topic-wise we see more ESG related
Michael Kruppe
shows . Besides lifestyle automation and definitely digitisation are future trends . Also , we see an increasing demand for festivals .
With virtual and hybrid events now a part of the events landscape , how is the SNIEC incorporating digital technologies to enhance the attendee experience and reach a wider audience ? We use digitisation to optimise our operational flow but besides that we do not see an increasing trend vis-a-vis hybrid events . It ’ s rather the other way round .
How does the SNIEC foster collaboration and partnerships with other industry players to enhance the overall event experience ? As we only have so called guest events , we follow our customers and related industry partners . So , we focus on what made us one of the top venues globally , and that is improve our services and listen to what the customers want . We have developed a special paper for international first timers in SNIEC where we explain all procedures .
Lastly , can you outline any key initiatives or plans that the SNIEC has in place to maintain its position as a leading exhibition centre in the region ? The simple strategy it to continue what we have done successfully the last at least 10 years , and we plan to continue this for the next 10 years : Deliver a transparent top service .
Recently we have designed a new slogan which is rather a key word which is : “ S +” in the past we always had three priorities : Service , safety and satisfaction . Now our customers can choose from many more S ’ s like Stability , Security , Speed and Superexperience .
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