UFI's 9th Global Barometer Survey Indicates Stability in Trade Show Industry

July 10, 2012

UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry’s 9th Global Barometer Survey that was conducted in June indicates, while the global economy still seems to be struggling, the trade show industry has remained on a stable path through the recession.

In the past three years, on average, six out of 10 companies that were surveyed indicated they had increase in their turnover.

Depending on the region, almost 40 percent of surveyed companies registered an increase in annual profits of more than 10 percent, which has been a relatively stable growth for the past three years.

As predicted in an earlier UFI Global Barometer Survey, though, turnover in the Asia/Pacific region and the Americas has slowed down recently.

The majority of the survey respondents said their business had been impacted negatively by the “economic crisis”, though almost half of them believe that will end by the middle of 2013.

Paul Woodward, UFI’s managing director, said, “Apparently, our industry is more conservative in their outlook than the results would show to be true. The results of our most recent Global Barometer survey confirm that our exhibition media continues to outperform expectations, despite the tough economic environment.”

Members of not only UFI, but also the Society of Independent Show Organizers, the Asociacion International de Ferias de America and the Exhibition Association of South Africa were surveyed for the semiannual report.

As in previous UFI Global Barometer Surveys, companies were asked to identify the three most important issues they were facing.

Twenty-four percent of those surveyed said they were worried about the state of the national/regional economy, 22 percent were concerned with the overall global economy and 18 percent said one of their top issues was local/national competition within the trade show industry.

The survey was answered by 221 respondents from 61 countries. The next UFI Global Barometer Survey will be conducted in December.

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