hile America , Europe , India and Brazil , as well as Indonesia , Hong Kong and Singapore , have been probably hit the hardest in terms of not having MICE business to run , we can see that China has been rebounding nicely .

Messe München ’ s sports market tradeshow ISPO Shanghai was the best ever , Informa Markets had a very successful China Beauty Expo , and Tarsus has run various shows in South China in recent weeks . Many other companies have also been able to host their shows with varying degrees of success . Overall , organisers in China will end up at a maximum of 30 % down in revenues compared with 2019 , I predict .

Lucky China ? Messe München and some other companies will probably have a decent year in China , with flat results compared with 2019 , and that will contrast to how the European yearend results turn out – or indeed those in many other parts of the world .

So , is it only China striking it exhibition lucky ? A centralised political system and a pretty hard lockdown in spring which closed borders were big factors in enabling China to become almost Covid-19

free . In European countries hard lockdowns have been more difficult to enforce and the recent summer holidays have led to a mini second wave of the pandemic .

It has been a similar picture in the Americas , where health regulations , mostly , have not allowed mass events . And , on both sides of the Atlantic , exhibitors and visitors are not too confident to participate in any shows , although the venues and exhibition organisers are probably ready to host them .

Fewer than 100 tradeshows will be held in Germany by the end of this year and some earmarked for January 2021 have been postponed already .

In Asia , only Thailand and China have some kind of normality , however airports remain closed for most international visitors even in those destinations .

Domestic is beautiful So , what have we learned ? Domestic is beautiful , provided you have a country that has closed off its borders and has high demand and is less dependent on import and export , then you can have great shows .

Consumer goods exhibitions seem to flourish most of all in such

Illustration by Anna Golde from Icons8

Björn Kempe , CEO ExposAsia

No life-saver , but hybrid is in Many organisers in China , as worldwide , are currently exploring virtual and hybrid events . There is a realisation that these options offer some great tools to keep clients engaged during Covid , but also that they can not replace an offline tradeshow . Hybrid will continue and will become important for customer engagement , but the main business model in our industry is not shifting into digital dollars .

Covid-19 has hit the business of M & A as well . Glasstech , organised by CEMS Singapore , was sold to Messe München - one of the very few transactions in the first six months of 2020 . The big organisers are still keeping their capital powder dry in Asia , perhaps to balance some significant losses in America and Europe .

Now could just be the time to invest .

James Murchoch ’ s Lupa Systems which invested 40 % into Art Basel and Messe München ( which bought Glasstech ) were illustrations of what can be achieved in the new market .

I expect the M & A activity to pick up sharply by end of this year and new business already starting to make up for the losses in 2020 / 21 . Many small businesses in India and ASEAN are certainly actively seeking international investors .