Cost and budgeting are the No. 1 concern for exhibitors when it comes to their trade show program, according to a new survey by The Exhibitor Advocate, a non-profit dedicated to trade show exhibitor success. 

With post-pandemic costs fluctuating––sometimes even skyrocketing––from year to year, how can exhibit marketers get ahead of inflationary price jumps and budget appropriately to support their trade show programs? And how can show organizers help their exhibitors through these challenges to keep them coming back to their events year after year?  

To address these challenges, the Exhibitor Advocate recently released its 2024 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates, offering benchmarking data, market-specific trends, and critical insights on material handling, labor, booth furnishings, internet access, and other essential exhibition costs across 23 major U.S. cities.  

Produced in partnership with Tradeshow Logic and independently audited by EVOLIO Marketing, the 3rd annual report is designed to serve as a go-to resource for exhibitors, show organizers, and industry suppliers to help them plan, budget, and negotiate more effectively and strategically based on year-over-year trending data.  

Methodology: To compile the research, The Exhibitor Advocate and Tradeshow Logic surveyed 23 major U.S. cities, sourced pricing data from 253 exhibitor manuals and forms, and looked at those specific items from the same set of cities across a representative sample of events, thus allowing exhibitors to compare costs across different locations. 

Why it matters: Besides enabling exhibit marketers to understand current cost trends and how to budget accordingly, the report’s insights can be leveraged by show organizers to benchmark their exhibitors’ costs against industry and city averages, according to Jessica Sibila, executive director of The Exhibitor Advocate. Meanwhile, suppliers can benefit from the detailed intelligence to benchmark exhibitor costs across popular cities and use competitive exhibitor costs to attract shows to their venues and destinations, she said. 

What they’re saying: “As our industry continues to evolve, the need for reliable, comprehensive cost data has never been more critical,” Sibila said. “This year’s survey builds on our goal of providing actionable insights that inform data-driven decision-making for exhibitors and show organizers.” 

Related: 2023 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates For Labor and Equipment Released 

Breaking Down the Data 

To maximize the value of this research, The Exhibitor Advocate hosted an online discussion forum on March 4, “Discover the Power of Data with The Exhibitor Advocate’s Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates,” featuring Sibila in conversation with Jo Sudore, head of events at Clario; Brooke Neus, convention consultant for Medtronic; and Evan Shoda, co-owner and CEO of RedlineXpo, who shared their insights about the report, how they use it to anticipate expenses, negotiate, make informed decisions, and find solutions to support event ROI.  

As a show organizer, Shoda shared that the survey provides him with the following benefits: 

Data-driven decision making: The survey provides hard numbers on exhibitor pain points, allowing organizers to make informed decisions. With insights into cost trends, exhibitor expectations, and economic pressures, organizers can proactively adjust pricing models, space allocations, and service offerings. For example, if data shows a rising concern over labor costs, organizers might negotiate better labor packages or offer alternative booth setup options, he said. 

“This survey really comes in handy when we’re negotiating with venues, but also with general service contractors,” Shoda explained. “When we look at these rates, we go to our general service contractor when we’re evaluating proposals and ask if we can negotiate a fee based on what they’re going to charge us per booth, as well as what they are going to charge us for material handling. It doesn’t necessarily work in our favor, because there are so many moving parts, but we’re fine increasing what we pay per booth if we can get ahead of the freight, the material handling, and the drayage. So we negotiate with them up front, and we communicate that with our exhibitors, too.” 

Related: New Research Provides Benchmarks for Trade Show Labor and Materials Handling Costs in 16 Cities 

Cost transparency and planning support: A major exhibitor challenge is the unpredictability of costs, with services including labor, drayage, and booth space often fluctuating year to year, making budgeting difficult. Organizers can ease this burden by providing detailed cost breakdowns upfront, offering cost forecasting tools or price locks for multi-year exhibitors, and communicating any expected increases in advance, so exhibitors can adjust their budgets accordingly, he said. 

Standardization across events: The survey ensures an apples-to-apples comparison by analyzing similar events in the same cities every year. This consistency can help show organizers benchmark their pricing and services against competitors, ensuring they remain competitive yet profitable. Organizers can also use the data to identify regional trends—for example, if exhibit costs in one city are rising faster than in another, they may need to adjust pricing models or negotiate with local vendors. 

Collaboration with exhibitors: Long-term exhibitor retention depends on strong partnerships, so organizers should actively seek feedback on pain points—beyond just pricing—to understand what improvements exhibitors need, Sibila said. 

“88% of survey respondents told us that cost and budgeting is their No. 1 concern when it comes to their trade show program,” Sibila shared. “Being able to address these costs and bring the data to their show organizers so that the organizer can negotiate on behalf of their exhibitors allows exhibitors to implement solutions that will be more beneficial.” 

She added that collaboration on this is key because the survey data shows that exhibitors are indeed taking actions to address the rising show service costs that are not positive for show organizers, including reducing their number of shows, sponsorships, and booth size, and reevaluating their event strategies. 

“The stakeholder group that is being affected by these solutions is the show organizer,” Sibila continued. “By allowing the show organizer to utilize this data and negotiate on behalf of their exhibitors, it can have a direct impact into the revenue that they can get from their exhibitors. So looking at the report can help you determine how it’s affecting your exhibitors and find some potential solutions for them.” 

For exhibit marketers Sudore and Neus, the report helps them with the following:  

Leveraging data for budgeting: By being able to anticipate cost trends, exhibiting companies can plan budgets with more accuracy based on past cost fluctuations as well as adjust their exhibit strategies based on regional cost variations, Sudore said. 

“Material handling rates increased by only about 2.2% this year, so the good news is that we’re seeing those rates level off, and it’ll be a little bit easier for our exhibitors to budget for those costs in future shows,” Sudore shared. “Display labor rates are rising only 1.17%, below that rate of inflation [but] the not-so-great news is that the average electrical rate has increased by 16.7%, so it’s skyrocketing this year.”  

She added, “Looking at a number of different rates throughout the report helps us determine that if we want to exhibit in a certain city, what is the average cost of exhibiting in that city based on things like internet, carpet, waste baskets, tables, and drape? So you can see what the average cost is beyond just those three labor rates.” 

Advocate for cost stability: Post-pandemic cost spikes, particularly with labor, drayage, and space rental fees, have caused frustration for many exhibitors. Exhibitors can push for more transparency and predictability by negotiating multi-year agreements with organizers to lock in booth rates, requesting detailed cost breakdowns to better understand pricing structures, and collaborating with other exhibitors to advocate for fair pricing policies.  

“This tool has really helped us because we are forecasting and budgeting on behalf of our clients, and we aren’t just coming to them with issues, we’re coming to them with solutions and advocating on their behalf in the industry,” Neus explained. “It goes beyond just determining how much electrical they need – we are their strategic partners, and it’s really because of leveraging this data. It gives us that opportunity to come to the table as a partner and as an advisor in this space and be seen as the experts.” 

Optimizing show strategies: The survey also highlights industry-wide trends that exhibitors can use to optimize their trade show strategies. These include identifying which shows provide the best value based on cost vs. ROI; understanding regional price fluctuations so they can adjust booth size and staffing accordingly; and spotting new trends in exhibition pricing to help them stay ahead of competitors. 

“Especially post-COVID, things have changed and show organizers who are being more creative and are implementing innovative models to address exhibitor pain points and address exhibitor needs and objectives, will be the ones who will weather any storm that comes to pass,” Sibila said. “Building loyalty and trust with exhibitors is so important, as is making it easy for exhibitors to exhibit at your show, which makes it more valuable to your attendees, as well. This is an ecosystem, and it’s important that we all work together to make sure that it is sustainable for the future.” 

Purchase the full report here. 

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