RESEARCH
hile we’re all up to our eyeballs in economic surveys and industry reports, we rarely get a bird’s eye view of our own backyard. When someone asks us, “So how’s the trade show industry doing?” we don’t have a concrete, research-based answer — until now. Thanks to the Second Annual CEIR Index, the answer is: “Things are looking up.” Commissioned by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, a nonprofit research organization based in Chicago, the 2005 CEIR Index used four metrics — net square feet, revenue, attendees, and exhibitors — to measure the annual performance of the exhibition industry between 2000 and 2004. The 2005 report catalogued 10,000 business-to-business exhibitions held in 2004 and gathered metric data from 258 annual or biannual exhibitions held in 2004 that also had data points available for the preceding three years. The exhibitions, defined as events with at least 3,000 net square feet of exhibit space, were organized into 11 industry-specific segments, each with additional sub-segments. The following pages include survey excerpts relevant to trade show exhibit managers. In addition to a broad analysis of the industry, you’ll find information about attendee and exhibitor growth over the last four years, as well as insights into how your industry sector stacks up against others. The full 2005 CEIR Index is available through CEIR’s Web site, www.ceir.org. By Linda Armstrong
Industry Overview Three out of four metrics — attendees, net square feet, and exhibitors — showed dramatic improvements between 2003 and 2004 and exceeded the baseline set in 2000. Revenue is the only metric that lagged behind the 2000 baseline; however, it showed a 2-percent increase over 2003 results. On the whole, the exhibition industry increased at a combined average growth rate of .9 percent from 2000 to 2004.		Trend Analysis The study points to slow-to-recover marketing budgets and organizers resisting the need to raise prices to explain why 2004 revenue hasn’t exceeded the 2000 baseline. It also suggests that since most exhibition costs are set 12 months in advance, pricing generally lags behind economic conditions — which suggests that 2005 revenue figures will catch up with the other metrics.
Exhibition Size Averages Almost 70 percent of exhibitions are less than 25,00 net square feet, with almost 40 percent under 10,000 net square feet. Only 8 percent of exhibitions are 100,000 net square feet or more. Exhibitions by Month When do you need to step up your game to win the attention of busy trade show attendees? Most trade shows are held in October, March, and April, but in December, July, and August, you’re competing with the holidays and the heat and humidity rather than other shows. Clear your personal calendar during February, March, and April, which are the busiest three consecutive months, and clear October as well, which is the busiest month of all with roughly 1,700 exhibitions.		Average Exhibition Size Apparently, bigger is better in Canada. Canadian exhibitions far outrank U.S. exhibitions when it comes to net square feet. Top 20 Trade Show Cities in North America Which cities hold the most –– and the largest –– exhibitions?
2004 Metrics by Sector How does your industry stack up to others? The following chart illustrates the increases and decreases found when comparing 2004 to 2000 (gray columns) and comparing 2004 to 2003 (white columns).
2004 vs. 2000 Analysis The Communications and Information Technology sector suffered a total decrease of 6.3 percent and decreases in each metric compared to the 2000 baseline. Consumer Goods and Retail Trade as well as Raw Materials and Science round out the group of industry sectors that has yet to return to the 2000 baseline. The Sports, Travel, Entertainment, Art, and Consumer Services sector, with huge jumps in attendees and revenue metrics (10.1 and 9.3 percent, respectively), showed the biggest increase, surpassing the 2000 baseline by 5.8 percent. Other significant gainers include Industrial/Heavy Machinery and Finished Business Inputs (4.1 percent), Medical and Healthcare (4.8 percent), and Transportation (4 percent). The Medical and Healthcare sector showed the largest increase in net square feet (8 percent), and Industrial/ Heavy Machinery and Finished Business Inputs put up the biggest gain in exhibitors (5.3 percent).		Exhibition-Venue Breakout Where are most exhibitions held? Not surprisingly, almost half of all exhibitions surveyed were held in exhibition or convention centers, with 32 percent held in hotels. Only 20 percent of exhibitions occurred in other venue types such as conference centers.
2004 vs. 2003 Analysis Communications and Information Technology along with Raw Materials and Science retain their bottom-of-the-heap status with slight total-metric decreases. These sectors also showed the only decrease in attendees, down 2.6 and 3.5 percent, respectively. Industrial/Heavy Machinery and Finished Business Inputs put up the highest increase in all metrics except attendees and came out on top in the total metric with a 19-percent increase compared to 2003. Other double-digit, total-metric gainers included Food (12.2 percent); Building, Construction, Home, and Repair (11.6 percent); and Government, Public, and Nonprofit Service (10.9 percent). Attendees jumped 21 percent in the Food sector and 15.3 percent in the Government, Public, and Nonprofit Service sector. Plus, the Sports, Travel, Entertainment, Art, and Consumer Services sector saw a 21-percent increase in attendees, despite flat growth in net square feet and a 1.6-percent decrease in exhibitors.
Linda Armstrong, senior writer