UFI releases latest World Map of Exhibition Venues

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Paris, 12th December: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has recently released another new research report, the World Map of Exhibition Venues, provides a list of venues in 21 markets with a minimum of 5,000 m2 of gross indoor exhibition space and with total capacity over 300,000 m2 of gross indoor exhibition space.

According to the report, 29% of the world’s venue capacity is located in China, followed by the U.S. with 15%, and in third place was Germany with 7.5%. A total of 81 “mega venues” with exhibition space of more than 100,000 m2 were identified in the report – of which 40 are in Europe and 35 are in Asia-Pacific.

Deutsche Messe surpasses projections in 2023

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Hannover, 7th December: International exhibition organiser, Deutsche Messe AG, has announced its revenues for the fiscal year 2023 were €350 million (US$381 million), with a net profit of €30 million (US$33 million). Both of those figures exceed the management’s original projections for the year.

Deutsche Messe hosted more than 90 trade fairs during the year, attracting some 26,000 exhibiting companies and more than 4.8 million visitors. Events in Turkey and China performed particularly well.

Hong Kong to host IBTM in Asia

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Hong Kong, 30th November: Hong Kong will host the inaugural edition of IBTM Asia Pacific 2025, the Asia Pacific edition of IBTM, a leading event brand serving the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) sector. The event is owned and organised by RX Global (formerly Reed Exhibitions).

The event in Hong Kong is expected to attract more than 1,500 travel trade and MICE professionals from mainland China, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, South Korea and other markets in the region, as well as long-haul markets.

STB appoints Markus Tan as a Regional Director

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Singapore, 13th December: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has appointed Markus Tan as its Regional Director for India, Middle East, South Asia, and Africa (IMESA), effective 1st January 2024.

Tan will be based in Mumbai and he will be responsible for spearheading STB’s initiatives in promoting Leisure and Business Travel & Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions (BTMICE) in the IMESA region.

Quick takes

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Register now the 2024 UFI Asia-Pacific Conference

You can now register for the 2024 UFI Asia-Pacific Conference. Both UFI members and non-members are welcome to the even which will be held in Macau on 7–8 March. There will be two days of networking, as well as discussion about the key issues facing the industry in the post-pandemic era. An Event Directors Summit will be part of the conference. This half-day summit, which is limited to 25 event/exhibition directors, is a new UFI event that will be co-located with the conference. Details are on the event website: https://www.ufiasia.org/

AI expected to revolutionise travel marketing

Over at Web in Travel (WiT), Arvindh Yuvaraj reports that the majority of Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) are convinced that AI is going to transform marketing in that industry – changing everything from content creation to data analysis. The business events industry should take note of this. Our industry will certainly follow a similar path.

AIME 2024 will be bigger than ever

This week, AIME stated that its 2024 edition is expected to be larger than its 2023 event, which was its 30th anniversary. AIME will be held in Melbourne next February and it is expected to attract more than 500 exhibitors. In addition, over 600 hosted buyers are confirmed – including 160 international buyers from 27 countries.

Sarawak records a strong rebound in 2023

Business Events Sarawak, a CVB, reported this week that it generated nearly US$75 million in economic impact in 2023. In addition, Borneo, a Malaysian state, will welcome an estimated 42,000 delegates at 95 national and international events over the next four years thanks to the efforts of the team at Business Events Sarawak.