TSEA Announces 2009 Exhibit Management Survey Results

3/12/2009 - The Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) today announced results from its 2009 Exhibit Management Survey of nearly 300 professionals who use exhibits, events or face-to-face marketing to promote and sell their products. Overall, budgets for exhibiting and the number of trade shows that exhibitors plan to attend are set to decline in 2009 – but only by about 17% – most likely because trade shows are still a primary means for generating sales leads.

TSEA’s Exhibit Management Survey was both anonymous and confidential, and it covered a wide range of topics, from event budget allocation to staff training and salaries. Following are several key findings from the survey.

• Exhibitors attended an average of 30 trade shows in 2008 and expect to attend 25 in 2009
• Trade shows will account for one third of an organization’s overall marketing budget in 2009
• Budgets for exhibiting will decrease from an average $459,100 in 2008 to $381,000 in 2009
• Corporate private event spending will decrease 30% from 2008 to 2009
• Spending for medical/healthcare/pharmaceutical industry events will increase 5% in 2009, but spending for technology shows will decrease 46%
• Only half of exhibitors surveyed offer staff training programs
• The average industry salary was almost 25% higher for males than females