Mexico
“No one has Guadalajara but us. We have to get the
benefit of our destination. It is our biggest USP.”
board and these newcomers paid in
for 35% of the stock.
“From day one those shares
haven’t returned any money,” says
Cervantes, who is clearly not tilting
at any windmills. “The Expo remains
what it was meant to be: a gift to the
city – a decent centre for exhibitions
and events. No-one was expecting
that money back and, indeed, it is all
reinvested in the project.
“We now have 140,00sqm of event
space and the meetings space is rented
out 65% with overall occupation
around 50%.”
Future vision
Cervantes explains the plan is to buy a
further 36,000sqm of adjacent land and
build a larger facility, adding a further
100,000sqm, which will turn it into the
largest centre in Latin America.
“It is an eight-year project and, I
hope, by February 2020 we should
have clinched the property part of the
deal, at least,” he says.
“We are also building 150,000sqm of
parking and other buildings, including
hotels. This will be called ‘Expo
Abierta’,” he adds.
The Expo currently has only 1,800
parking spaces and Cervantes admits
it is not enough.
So, is his idea to move towards a
‘Resort’ complex idea?
“We have a large wholesale market
52
Issue 6 2019
nearby and it will move outside of the
city, so we do want to integrate that
into the expo area. We are talking
arenas, more hotels and services. The
city is going to hit 30,000 rooms next
year and a lot more people will be
coming in to town.
“I am sure we will hit 40,000 rooms
soon and bear in mind, three years ago
we didn’t have 22,000.”
Cervantes describes the
development boom in the city as “an
explosion” and it is all happening
because of the destination’s pull.
“We always say our most valuable
asset is our destination here at
Expo,” Cervantes says. “We have
great weather, a beautiful city, all the
traditional topics of Mexico. We have
all that Mexico has to offer.”
No Mexican senora, he adds,
would miss the chance of a trip
to Guadalajara. It’s a shopping
experience, with a jewellery quarter,
shoes and national and international
food offerings.
Expo Guadalajara even boasts the
largest kitchen in Mexico - 3,000sqm
over three levels. Street food trucks are
also dotted around the show floors.
Expo itself has 320 staff.
Today 20% of Expo Guadalajara’s
stock is held by government (10% by
the city, 10% by the state government),
but Cervantes explains, they don’t set
the rules, “just accompany the game”.
Expo Guadalajara may have its
founding fathers, but their shows are
only around half a dozen of the more
than 500 events that take place each
year at the venue.
The FIL bookfair alone brings in
800,000 visitors over 10 days and
is organised by the University of
Guadalajara.
Informa, Reed, EJ Krause and
other big organisers are building
show portfolios at the centre and,
says Cervantes, have started buying
exhibitions actively. They have also
Left:
Guillermo
Cervantes,
Expo
Guadalajara
President
cloned shows into Mexico.
“These large guys probably own
15% of our shows, but they are the
biggest ones,” says Cervantes who
adds that the situation also requires
the Expo to start building up its own
shows.
“We are,” he says, “creating a
business intelligence division and
looking to fill in other missing links.”
“We are particularly keen to grow
smaller events. The more we can make
exhibitions grow, the better it is for
us. We are open to sharing risk and
benefits, and to new partnerships.”
Expo Guadalajara plays a leading
role in the country’s organiser
association AMPROFEC and to push
ahead on all fronts despite some
difficult economic headwinds.
With no national convention
bureau, Expo Guadalajara is closer to
the Jalisco state government than the
national one, it seems.
The national politicians, says
Cervantes, “have no clue how to create
a business or run a company. All their
lives they have been politicians. But
we are doing a lot of lobbying and
there are big results with our Jalisco
and city governments. They are young
people and I love working with them.
“We don’t always have much budget
but we have great people and a great
destination.
“I always tell them: ‘No one has
Guadalajara but us. We have to get
the benefit of our destination. It is our
biggest USP.
There is always strength in numbers
and Cervantes is also part of the team
driving a local MICE cluster with
airlines, hotels, construction companies,
restaurants, taxi firms and supplier
companies. He describes it as “a big
circus under one big roof, and I will run
it under our roof. Expo Guadalajara can
run this ‘show’. We want our customers
to find all our services under our one
roof and international organisers can
find us all here.”
Cervantes could just be the Greatest
Exhibition Showman in his country if
expansion and cluster plans hold the
expo ring in the near future.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk