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UFI Global Exhibition Barometer Shows Limited Impact of the Current Situation in the Middle East
7/8/2026
PARIS — UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has released the 37th edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer report, offering fresh insights into the current state of the exhibition industry.
Global results of the survey concluded in June indicate that 27% of companies expect revenue growth above 5% annually, while 38% anticipate stable revenues.
The most pressing business issue in the short term remains “State of the economy in home market” (19%), while “Global economic developments” ranks first for the mid-term (18%).
Global AI adoption in the exhibition industry is steadily increasing, with 91% of companies now reporting the use of AI, a 4% increase from six months earlier.
The results also show a limited impact of the current situation in the Middle East: only 14% of companies globally, and 10% outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), report a strong negative effect on business at the time of the survey.
“Our barometer indicates that there is no real evidence of a significant knock-on effect from the current Middle East disruption outside the GCC, and positive trends remain around the world, despite concerns about the state of national economies in some locations.
Within the GCC, there is an understandable impact from the conflict, but the situation has positively evolved since our survey, and we are confident that the industry will bounce back quickly,” comments Chris Skeith OBE, Managing Director and CEO at UFI.
Size and scope
This latest edition of UFI’s bi-annual industry report was concluded in June 2026 and is based on data from 466 companies in 59 countries and regions. The study includes outlooks and analyses for 20 focus countries and regions – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the USA – as well as five additional aggregated regional zones. It also segments global results for organisers, venues and service providers/suppliers whenever this is relevant.
Rented space
Globally, 26% of respondents expect an increase in activity in their home market of more than 5% year on year in 2026, while 38% expect activity to remain stable (+/- 5%). In contrast, 21% anticipate a decrease of more than 5%, and 14% remain uncertain.
As anticipated due to the situation in the Middle East, those results appear more cautious than those declared six months ago, when 44% of respondents were expecting an increase in activity of more than 5% (18% more), 41% stability (3% more), while 8% were anticipating a decrease (13% less) of more than 5%. Uncertainty has increased, with 7% of respondents unable to answer (7% less).
Revenues
Global results show that 27% of companies worldwide expect an annual increase in revenue of more than 5%, while 38% expect a stable evolution (+/-5%) of total revenue. Detailed results by revenue stream show that most companies forecast stable revenues for “renting space” (32% of answers), “selling services” (39%), and “selling sponsorship opportunities” (32%). In parallel, 37% of respondents do not consider “receiving subsidies” relevant to their business.
Operating profit
In terms of operating profits, the results show a generally positive performance in 2025, with 37% of companies reporting an increase in operating profit of more than 10% and a further 50% indicating stable profits.
At the time of the survey, companies appeared more cautious about their profit expectations for 2026. While 19% expected operating profits to increase by more than 10%, a majority (54%) anticipated stable profits.
Most important business issues
For the short term:
Globally, 70% of companies indicate that they currently use standard AI tools in at least some of their business functions. In addition, 17% have AI-powered tools integrated into their existing systems, and 4% have already developed proprietary algorithms trained on internal data. Overall, 91% of companies are now using AI (+4% compared to six months ago). In parallel, 9% of respondents declare having no or almost no use of AI at this stage.
In terms of maturity, most companies are still researching or testing solutions across the three domains surveyed: 67% for “improving company and process efficiency”, 71% for “improving customer experience”, 55% for “generating revenue using AI-powered products”.
At the same time, the share of companies testing or implementing AI solutions is increasing: 62% (+10% compared to 6 months ago) for “improving company and process efficiency”, 53% (+6%) for “improving customer experience”, 28% (+6%) for “generating revenue using AI-powered products”.
Impact of the situation in the Middle East
Results from the survey conducted in May show a limited impact of the situation in the Middle East at the global level: only 14% of companies worldwide, and 10% outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) indicated a strong negative impact on their business.
While the impact is unsurprisingly “strong negative” for more than half of the responses (55%) in the GCC, 90% of companies outside the GCC do not see a negative impact or only a moderate one.
For the companies that are impacted, the main impact is the postponement (rescheduling) of events in the GCC and reduced participation at their events across all other regions.
The 37th Global Exhibition Barometer report was conducted in collaboration with 33 associations.
In line with UFI’s objective to provide vital data and best practices to the entire exhibition industry, the full results can be downloaded at www.ufi.org/knowledge-hub.
The next UFI Global Exhibition Barometer survey will be conducted in December 2026.
Contact:
[email protected]
PARIS — UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has released the 37th edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer report, offering fresh insights into the current state of the exhibition industry.
Global results of the survey concluded in June indicate that 27% of companies expect revenue growth above 5% annually, while 38% anticipate stable revenues.
The most pressing business issue in the short term remains “State of the economy in home market” (19%), while “Global economic developments” ranks first for the mid-term (18%).
Global AI adoption in the exhibition industry is steadily increasing, with 91% of companies now reporting the use of AI, a 4% increase from six months earlier.
The results also show a limited impact of the current situation in the Middle East: only 14% of companies globally, and 10% outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), report a strong negative effect on business at the time of the survey.
“Our barometer indicates that there is no real evidence of a significant knock-on effect from the current Middle East disruption outside the GCC, and positive trends remain around the world, despite concerns about the state of national economies in some locations.
Within the GCC, there is an understandable impact from the conflict, but the situation has positively evolved since our survey, and we are confident that the industry will bounce back quickly,” comments Chris Skeith OBE, Managing Director and CEO at UFI.
Size and scope
This latest edition of UFI’s bi-annual industry report was concluded in June 2026 and is based on data from 466 companies in 59 countries and regions. The study includes outlooks and analyses for 20 focus countries and regions – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the USA – as well as five additional aggregated regional zones. It also segments global results for organisers, venues and service providers/suppliers whenever this is relevant.
Rented space
Globally, 26% of respondents expect an increase in activity in their home market of more than 5% year on year in 2026, while 38% expect activity to remain stable (+/- 5%). In contrast, 21% anticipate a decrease of more than 5%, and 14% remain uncertain.
As anticipated due to the situation in the Middle East, those results appear more cautious than those declared six months ago, when 44% of respondents were expecting an increase in activity of more than 5% (18% more), 41% stability (3% more), while 8% were anticipating a decrease (13% less) of more than 5%. Uncertainty has increased, with 7% of respondents unable to answer (7% less).
Revenues
Global results show that 27% of companies worldwide expect an annual increase in revenue of more than 5%, while 38% expect a stable evolution (+/-5%) of total revenue. Detailed results by revenue stream show that most companies forecast stable revenues for “renting space” (32% of answers), “selling services” (39%), and “selling sponsorship opportunities” (32%). In parallel, 37% of respondents do not consider “receiving subsidies” relevant to their business.
Operating profit
In terms of operating profits, the results show a generally positive performance in 2025, with 37% of companies reporting an increase in operating profit of more than 10% and a further 50% indicating stable profits.
At the time of the survey, companies appeared more cautious about their profit expectations for 2026. While 19% expected operating profits to increase by more than 10%, a majority (54%) anticipated stable profits.
Most important business issues
For the short term:
- The most pressing business issue remains “State of the economy in home market” (19% of responses globally, unchanged from six months ago). It is the leading issue across all regions except the Middle East & Africa and Europe.
- “Geopolitical challenges” (18%, +2% compared to six months ago) ranks as the second most important business issue globally and is the top concern in both the Middle East & Africa (24%) and Europe (22%).
- “Global economic developments” (16% of responses, unchanged compared to six months ago) ranks third globally.
- “Global economic developments” becomes the top mid-term issue with 18% of responses (compared to third place in the short term with 16%).
- It is followed by “Geopolitical challenges” with 15% (second in the short term with 18%)
- and “State of the economy in the home market” in third place with 13% (first in the short term with 19%).
Globally, 70% of companies indicate that they currently use standard AI tools in at least some of their business functions. In addition, 17% have AI-powered tools integrated into their existing systems, and 4% have already developed proprietary algorithms trained on internal data. Overall, 91% of companies are now using AI (+4% compared to six months ago). In parallel, 9% of respondents declare having no or almost no use of AI at this stage.
In terms of maturity, most companies are still researching or testing solutions across the three domains surveyed: 67% for “improving company and process efficiency”, 71% for “improving customer experience”, 55% for “generating revenue using AI-powered products”.
At the same time, the share of companies testing or implementing AI solutions is increasing: 62% (+10% compared to 6 months ago) for “improving company and process efficiency”, 53% (+6%) for “improving customer experience”, 28% (+6%) for “generating revenue using AI-powered products”.
Impact of the situation in the Middle East
Results from the survey conducted in May show a limited impact of the situation in the Middle East at the global level: only 14% of companies worldwide, and 10% outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) indicated a strong negative impact on their business.
While the impact is unsurprisingly “strong negative” for more than half of the responses (55%) in the GCC, 90% of companies outside the GCC do not see a negative impact or only a moderate one.
For the companies that are impacted, the main impact is the postponement (rescheduling) of events in the GCC and reduced participation at their events across all other regions.
The 37th Global Exhibition Barometer report was conducted in collaboration with 33 associations.
In line with UFI’s objective to provide vital data and best practices to the entire exhibition industry, the full results can be downloaded at www.ufi.org/knowledge-hub.
The next UFI Global Exhibition Barometer survey will be conducted in December 2026.
Contact:
[email protected]
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