How exhibition industry will fare in the year 2021?

With the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, exhibition industry seems to press pause globally. Conservative statistics show that already over 2,400 fairs and exhibitions worldwide have been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus only as of middle of April 2020. The global exhibition market size is likely to drop by $19.9 billion, with the total estimated market size shrinking to nearly $9.1bn by the end of 2020 (a 69 per cent contraction).

India's exhibition sector has lost an estimated Rs 3,570 crore due to the lockdown imposed across the country to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, say industry players. According to The Indian Exhibitions Industry Association IEIA, the size of Indian exhibition industry is Rs 23,800 crore with more than 550 events conducted annually in the organized sector.

The exhibition industry sector enables trade/business transaction of over Rs 3,00,000 crore, boosting and supporting the growth of various spectrum of industries while also being a colossal employment provider with nearly 1,20,000 people employed in this industry, it said.

Technology empowers innovation. Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 5G, Web3D and other internet The Indian Exhibitions Industry Association ready to adapt to what that means for your organization. Digital engagement, year-round commercial marketplaces, and hosted-buyer formats are here to stay. Build expertise in these domains, and you're sure to become more valuable to your customers.

Digital Promotion: Digital media is expected to accelerate the growth of online promotion and marketing activities. In the new media age, exhibition brand building changes from displaying products to creating experience, from one-way communication to two-way interaction in the aspects of content delivery, audience composition and communication mode.

Audience Expansion: The digital media expands to an audience beyond the reach of physical spaces. Exhibitors and visitors, who could not participate in the past for either cost or distance reasons, have higher possibility to be attracted through digital means with more flexible exhibition space and business scale, and more overseas participants can be expected.

Efficient Operation: Online exhibition makes the process of exhibition organization, preparation, and participation much easier, from booth set-up to business transaction.

Precise & Timely Analysis: Digital tools enable timely feedback and evaluation to gain customer insights and to better understand the participant journey not only after but already during the show. Accurate analytics can provide beneficial insights to evaluate "just-in-time" dynamics and "hot spots".

Additional Business Models: New business as supplement and value-add to offline activities as well to generate additional revenue for both organizer and venue operator to further explore the new digital era in MICE.

Intelligent Venue: Taking the pandemic as an opportunity, diversification of operation model, facilities updating to meet the need of online exhibition, digital promotion and marketing, intelligent service are all aspects that the operators with a forward-thinking venue model need to consider.

M&A: In the process of digital transformation, organizational structural adjustment and extending industry chain can be resulted with more M&A opportunities.

For professional exhibition venues, it is necessary to optimize technical and supporting facilities, to develop innovative digital solutions, to set up a dedicated venue-upgrading taskforce and to be equipped with digital capability as early as possible.

Evaluate your database, and determine what data you have and what you need. Every business runs on data, and you are no exception. Pruning insight from this data will reveal insights about your business that will open your eyes to new opportunities.

Invest in low-cost, high-impact marketing when no one else is. Now is not the time to take your foot off the gas. Let the marketplace know you're open for business and standing-by to support them when they are ready. Are you spending at least 5 per cent of your revenue on marketing to stay top of mind?

Adopt a mindset of change and adaptation. Adaptation is how we survive and get through difficult times.

The one thing that has kept us moving forward is communication with our team, our clients, our partners, and the marketplace we serve. We've been adapting our services, flexing muscle we had, and building new capabilities that are in demand.

While the near-term requires a blend of austerity and ambition, for those companies and people who are resilient and adaptive, it will be so much stronger going into 2022.