Covid-19 pandemic impact on MICE industry is very high,very deep

The economic impact of the events industry is significant. On a total GDP basis, the global events industry is as large as the 13th largest global economy. Based on business sales, the business events sector is larger than consumer electronics and computers, and office equipment.

Approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide participate in business events annually triggering $2.5 trillion in direct and indirect spending as a result of business events. This translates to $1.5 trillion in global GDP contribution and 26 million people have direct or indirect jobs in this industry. The average spends by business participants is $704.

Exhibitions have a direct impact on numerous sectors in the regions where they take place – not just the exhibition industry (venues, organisers and service providers), but all related sectors, such as accommodation, restaurants and transport. Taking all of these sectors into account, it is estimated that a minimum of €200 billion ($224 billion) of total exhibition-related output was not generated in 2020, including €80 billion ($90 billion) in North America, €65 billion ($73 billion) in Europe and €46 billion ($52 billion) in the Asia-Pacific region. This equates to 2.4 million full-time jobs affected globally.

Exhibiting companies use face-to-face events to generate contacts that lead to business, either at or soon after the event, and the non-tenure of most exhibitions in 2020 has led to an estimated €330 billion ($370 billion) of business volume affected. While a small fraction of that loss may have been compensated for specific sectors, with the development of purely digital solutions, the net impact remains very high.

The entire exhibitions sector in India has come to a grinding halt due to the impact of Covid-19 and essential ban on mass gatherings. Annual Direct revenue of the Exhibitions Industry in 2020-21 is about Rs 4,000 crores and is charged 18 per cent GST. Nearly 500 exhibitions are held each year. This has further largely impacted the B2B activity across various other industries which actively leverage exhibitions for their business activities and orders. Exhibition industry enables a business of over Rs 3 Lakh crores annually.

Many MSME entities are also suffering huge losses and are near bankruptcy situation due to closure of exhibitions in the country. The Government should create exhibitions in India scheme and offer 10 per cent of invoiced revenue by exhibition sector as an incentive to organise shows in India. This scheme should be launched for at least 5 years. If the situation normalises soon, the Exhibition Industry will achieve a Revenue of Rs 4,000 crores in 2021-22. 10 per cent paid under Exhibitions in India Scheme will require a financial impetus of Rs 400 crores.