A market survey conducted by Messe Frankfurt Middle East (MFME) highlights the effect of COVID-19 on the global exhibition industry.
More than 4,000 professionals from a wide range of industry sectors including automotive, commercial security, beauty and cosmetics, hailing from 130+ countries participated in the survey. It looked closely at the key areas such as participants’ travel and health concerns and the importance of trade fairs in a post-pandemic world.
The survey reveals that Dubai is seen as the best place to host international exhibitions with 77% of respondents regarding Dubai as the safest destination to attend a post COVID-19 exhibition, followed by Germany (41%), Saudi Arabia (19%), France (17%) and Italy (15%).
Simon Mellor CEO, Messe Frankfurt Middle East.
“The good news for the exhibitions industry is it’s still a critical component for business success, as this research has indicated. Clearly there is an appetite for the events sector to pick up in Dubai, with this evident during the AI Everything conference at DWTC, which marked the return of physical events in Dubai.”
Nearly 62% of the participants accepted that as the novel corona virus recedes and a sense of normalcy returns, exhibitions would be more important to business (31%), or just as important (38%), compared to the past.
A further 64% expect to attend exhibitions over the next eight months, while 36% are already scheduled to attend exhibitions before the end of 2020.
Although 77% of survey respondents stated that they will fly abroad for business by the end of 2020, half of this figure (50%) depends on the relaxing of international travel restrictions.
Almost 62% are willing to attend exhibitions at their ‘home country’ and abroad, but 25% would only attend a ‘home’ event, perceiving reduced travel as better for their health and safety.
The July 2020 survey ‘Exhibitions post COVID-19’ was conducted by GRS-explori Research & Strategy, and commissioned by MFME, one of the largest trade fair organizers in the region. The results of the survey signify the effectiveness of the UAE leadership’s efforts as it continues to inject confidence back into its economy.
