Report reveals scale of Asia ’ s trade fair challenges
T he Covid pandemic hammered trade shows in Asia in 2020 and 2021 . The latest ( 17th edition ) of the UFI / BSG report , ‘ The trade fair industry in Asia ’ provides a snapshot of an industry reeling from an ongoing crisis and makes some interesting comparisons with regional markets before and during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic . Among the findings are that Net space sold fell from the 24.5 million sqm . in 2019 to approximately 9.1 million sqm . in 2020 .
Also , Asia ’ s relative success in managing the pandemic has led to governments maintaining restrictive quarantine and travel policies , which will significantly impact the industry in Asia well into 2022 .
The report was compiled by Business Strategies Group ( BSG ) in Hong Kong on behalf of UFI , and attempts to provide a best estimate for the actual performance of the industry in 2020 , as well as commentary on 2021 and the outlook for 2022 . It contains over 100 pages of data and analysis and its views are those of its authors .
Summary of 2020 : Asian trade fair industry in crisis Usual year-on-year comparisons have been rendered somewhat meaningless by the onslaught of the global pandemic and , this year , BSG ’ s bottom-up approach to estimates of net space sold was made more difficult by a dynamic and rapidly changing trading environment , as well as by limited availability of accurate data during various lockdowns across the region .
Postponements , cancellations and last-minute reductions in exhibitors and visitors were an on-going problem in 2020 ( and again in 2021 ).
Despite these circumstances , this report provides reliable insight into the state of the Asian trade fair market in 2020 and 2021 .
Overall , BSG estimates that Asia recorded a 63 % drop in net space sold in 2020 , compared to 2019 . Net space sold fell to just 9.1 million sqm in 2020 . Indeed Net space sold in the majority of trade fair markets fell by more than 80 % in 2020 . This figure includes some of the larger , more important trade fair markets such as Hong Kong , Thailand , Taiwan and Australia . A relatively strong performance by China prevented the regional average from falling much further .
Estimated size 2019 vs . 2020 in % change
Above : The China market was the most active in the region . Below : Table 1 : Exhibition space sold ( net square metres ), 2020 vs . 2019
2020 GDP Growth Estimated annual size in m2 in 2020
The decline in the majority of markets was actually 80 % or more – including large markets such as Hong Kong , Taiwan , Singapore , Thailand and Australia . Japan , the second largest market in Asia , fell by 77 %.
China , by far the largest trade fair market in the region , fell by ‘ just ’ 53 %. This was due to the fact that events in China were permitted to
Estimated annual size in m2 in 2019
Korea -50.4 % -1.0 % 538,500 1,086,750 China -53.4 % 2.3 % 6,788,000 14,572,000 Pakistan -57.1 % -0.4 % 45,000 105,000 India -60.9 % -8.0 % 548,750 1,403,500 Indonesia -69.2 % -2.1 % 88,500 287,250 Japan -76.9 % -4.8 % 490,750 2,120,500 Singapore -80.6 % -5.4 % 79,000 406,750 Taiwan -82.7 % -3.1 % 153,000 885,000 Australia -86.6 % -2.4 % 91,500 681,750 Thailand -87.6 % -6.1 % 84,250 679,750 Malaysia -89.2 % -5.6 % 47,000 435,000 Macau -89.5 % -56.3 % 25,000 238,750 Philippines -92.8 % -9.5 % 16,750 233,500 Myanmar -93.3 % 3.2 % 6,000 89,750 Hong Kong -94.2 % -6.1 % 58,500 1,007,750 Vietnam -94.6 % 2.9 % 12,750 237,000 Cambodia -100.0 % -3.5 % 0 26,750 Total -63.0 % N / A 9,073,250 24,496,750
44 Issue 6 2021 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk