Exhibitions. Growth of the trade fair industry in Asia was boosted in 2011 by strong increases in south-east Asia according to the eighth edition of the annual report of UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, on the trade fair market in Asia. Overall, exhibition space sales grew by 2.6% last year. Net area sold by organisers in Asia reached a total of 15.9 million m2. Of that total, almost 55% was sold in China and 12% was sold in Japan. The research was once again undertaken by Business Strategies Group (BSG) in Hong Kong.
Growth was clearly highest in south-east Asia in 2011. Singapore and Malaysia were the fastest growing markets – up 15% and 14% respectively. The exhibition market in the Philippines grew by 8.8%. Vietnam was the only exception to this south-east Asian trend, posting growth of just 1.2%.
The larger exhibition markets grew notably more slowly in 2011. Asia’s largest market, China, grew by 2.5%, while India posted an increase of 3.3%. Two other large markets, Korea and Hong Kong grew by 2.2% and 1.1% respectively.
Three exhibition markets contracted in 2011. Australia slipped by 1% and the small exhibition market in Macau dropped by almost 11%. Japan, the second largest exhibition market in Asia, contracted by nearly 3% following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.
In terms of capacity, by the end of 2012 there will be almost 6,490,000 m2 available at venues in Asia. That is up from 3 million m2 recorded in the first edition of this report in 2005. This year, the total number of venues in Asia will be 187. Of that figure, there will be 97 venues in China. India will have 13 venues and Japan and Korea will each be operating 12 venues. Nearly 68% of all venue capacity in Asia is now in China – more than 12 times the next largest market, Japan (4.42 million m2 vs. 350,606 m2).
“The exhibition industry in Asia continues to be a remarkably dynamic and fast-growing market. As the exhibition markets in the traditional, more mature economies have been faced with challenging economic conditions, the industry in Asia has continually managed to grow year after year,” commented Paul Woodward, UFI Managing Director. “As a result, a rising number of international exhibition organisers are looking to participate in the growth in Asia. We are also pleased to see UFI’s membership in Asia continue to grow along with the industry there. UFI now has 193 members in Asia – including 73 in mainland China and we anticipate that interest in the region will remain high.”
The report provides detailed information on the development of trade fairs and supporting facilities in 15 markets: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The report also includes analysis on actual market performance in 2011 as well as forecasts and commentary on key trends in each market.
