Evolution of Exhibition Industry in the last ten years

Exhibitions now-a-days have undergone a tremendous change since two decades due to the development of information and communication technology(ICT) which has played a pivotal role in integrating the coordination and support from different sectors. The sectors which have joined hands in bringing the transformation in exhibition includes trade, tourism, the modern international transportation network, customs involvement to the advanced release and revision of goods, trade liberalization, abolishment of non-tariff barriers and the public security systems. These sectors no doubt has remained a threshold for the development of exhibition industry but the advancement of banking sector, insurance and internet advertisement also have had impacted on the extension of exhibition industry.

Furthermore, the countries (such as the United States of America, Japan, France, Germany , China etc) dominates the most of the share-in-trade find a realistic ground for their higher standing in International framework.

Gone are the days, where exhibition were seen by their organizers and owners as only the basic revenue generation criteria or quantum of profits to be made or the number of satisfied visitors. These criterions only served the limited sphere of growth and development of the industry. But if analyzed from critical angle, the other factors also comes in a loop which infact, cannot be ignored. These factors have more or less impacted the growth in tourism as well. The factors surfaced depends upon the number of destinations where exhibitions were held, the occupancy ratio of the hotel rooms and the estimated economic impact brought by the destination on which the exhibition industry heavily relies upon.

As the time passes by, if exhibition industry is to be analyzed from broaden perspective, certain observations have been made. The stakeholders from across the exhibition industry remains a keen evaluator in knowing whether their return on investment is matching pace with the objectives of exhibition. Whether or not, these stakeholders have vested interest towards success of the exhibition. The stakeholders are not the extraordinary individuals but consists of the event organizer, the event owner, the industry sector, the host destination, the visitors, the exhibitors and the service providers. These stakeholders work in coordination for the success of their mission encompassing advancement of trade and commerce, research development and knowledge transfer, exhibitor and visitor satisfaction, promotion of the destination, sales, product awareness and ofcourse, revenues and profits too.

Going forward in critical evaluation, exhibitions are the supporters in encouraging the growth of public and private sector investment. With so many companies queuing up for their sponsorships at each exhibition booth, manages to capture the attention seekers strolling down each booth. Thanks to the economic prosperity which exhibition brings forward leading to its acknowledgement of presence in regions, countries and destinations.

Depending on the size and growth of exhibition industry in most parts of the world, these events create a vital impact on the economic, cultural, social, political and environmental aspects of the area.

Many of the destinations have formulated their own methodologies to measure these impacts which range from direct, indirect and induced spend from the event itself and the participators. These ongoing evaluations are collaborated with consultations from a third-party which engages itself in designing the matrix and multipliers throughout this process. However, the residual impacts of exhibitions involving the social, cultural and political spheres need to be put under scanner which can be put to later use.

Exhibitions provide a common platform to share the cultural mix of educating their local masses in such host destinations of doing business and educating them on updated technologies and best practices. These events carry a positive impact on the political governance, coordination, or investment in related field or area. The destination of exhibition events where delegates participate expose them to new perspectives, business events based on research and its practical uses, knowledge and ideas, networking face-to-face people result in the beginning of new business partnerships and research collaborations that promulgate the advancement of new products. If witnessing from the perspective of organising committee members and practitioners prefer these business events for contributing to improve the quality of education in a relative field. Moreover, the exhibitions organized for the academic delegates invites the catalysts for collaborating research.

Finally, one such impact comes from the perspective of organizers, venues and service providers is striving for joint efforts in reducing the environmental wastage and finally put to constructive use.

In order to conclude, exhibitions these days are not only viewed from the promotion or selling the products and services/allied service but to make an everlasting impression that can contribute to the overall success of every entity associated with the exhibition. So, the evolution of exhibition has outpace the dogma speedily that the attendees and even the organizers view itself for the personal, professional and educational growth.