Global Recovery Insights
Having just released the full Global Recovery Insights report , produced in partnership with UFI and supported by SISO , project lead , Sophie Holt , takes us through the key findings of the priorities of visitors and exhibitors as live events start to return
9,000 respondents 31 countries Tradeshow visitors and exhibitors
Fieldwork July / August 2020
hen we embarked on this project , as lockdown commenced this spring , I was apprehensive as to what we would find . At the end of 2019 we had produced the Global Exhibitor Insights , which made somewhat uncomfortable reading for the industry . It highlighted that some exhibitors were beginning to have concerns about the ROI of live events and question some of the figures that organisers were publishing . Add to that the biggest disruption that many of us have ever experienced in our careers , and some commentators were suggesting that our industry was on a knife edge , facing a fundamental shift away from live events .
It was possible that we were about to produce research that could spell dark times for our industry .
But as we analysed the results in late August , it was clear that there was much to be positive about . Not only were live events being sorely missed by both visitors and exhibitors , it seems that they have not found alternative channels that can replace the unique aspects of face-toface networking .
Live events support business generation : Two-thirds of those who exhibit at tradeshows reported their cancellation has had a notable detrimental impact on their business , reducing their ability to build awareness with their target markets . Fifty percent of companies reported that the absence of live events was negatively affecting their ability to generate new business .
And while our current visitors and exhibitors strongly prefer live events across every aspect , there were also intriguing hints as to the future of digital and hybrid events , which I will cover in a future article .
What does the future look like ? Both visitors and exhibitors reported some drop in how frequently they planned to attend live events in future compared to previous studies we have conducted . But , when compared with data from 2019 , the drop for exhibitors was very modest . This reduction in frequency seems to be part of a more long-term trend where exhibitors in markets where the exhibition industry is very developed are planning to level out their participation .
The more pronounced impact on visitor attendance is driven by short- term concerns , primarily around safety . Visitors who were planning to reduce their attendance need to be reassured that robust safety measures are in place . They are also more drawn to the option of being able to attend an event digitally , for the time being at least .
When will spend return ? Possibly the most encouraging aspect of the study was exhibitors still feeling confident about the return of their spend for tradeshows . Twentyeight percent of exhibitors said their spend would return to pre-Covid levels as soon as live events were running again . Only 13 % felt the drop in spend could be permanent . On average , exhibitor spending could return to pre-Covid levels within 11 months . This held true across widely differing sectors and countries .
While , as of August , budgets for other marketing channels remained relatively unaffected , unsurprisingly there has been a big impact on spend for live events . Both tradeshow
When , if at all , do you expect your tradeshow exhibiting spend to return to pre-Covid levels ?
30 % 28 %
25 %
20 %
15 %
10 %
5 %
0 %
As soon as trade shows start running again
5 %
Within six months
20 %
Between six months and one year
26 %
Between one and two years
7 %
Between two and three years
Average : 11 months
2 %
More than three years
12 %
I don ’ t expect our exhibiting spend will ever return to pre-Covid levels
www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 5 2020 49