WEBINAR ON EXHIBITION BUSINESS WITH THEME “THE NEW NORMAL FOR EXHIBITION BUSINESS POST C 19”
Key Speakers for the
session:
Denis Delforge – CEO, Brussels Expo
John Blaskey, MD, The Exhibiting Agency UK
Balvinder Singh Sawhney, Asst. Sec. General, FICCI
Amit Panjwani, Director, CII
Naveen Seth, Principal Director, PHDCCI
Ashish Jain, Jt. Dep. Dir General, FIEO
Sudeep Sarcar, CEO, India Expo Center And Mart Ltd.
MQ Syed, MD, EXHICON Group
Babar Khan, Exhibition Industry Professional
Moderated by : Sachin Manoccha, Group Editor, Mice Affairs, TheAssociationNews & Trav Buzz.
The web conference was well attended by Exhibition Industry players from India and outside
locations too. The panel with the global presence of speakers from the
Exhibition domain added great value to the forum with key issues pertaining to
Exhibition Business.
Key
Takeaways from the session:
A:
Technology/Going
Digital-
ü
TIME TO WORK ON 3
R’s - It’s time to Reboot Redesign and Reinvent
ü
Digital Events are
there as support mechanism not as a replacement
ü
Technological
Solutions are specific for Conference Business right now. And can’t replace
fully exhibition business.
ü
Restrictions on
Human contact. Leading to a search for solutions
ü
Technology shall
play an important role going forward like Pre-arranged meetings with
Exhibitors, restricting visits to exhibitions without appointments.
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Exhibitions are
experiential with on spot products and display, Touch & Feel factor,
establishing buyer and seller relationships and hence helping sales of products.
ü
Hybrid Model which
shall be an added value to the current scenario is what future exhibitions
shall be aimed at
ü
Disruptions are here
for Time Being. As they say, it’s a RESET Button, So Disruption time is to
Upgrade and work towards Sustainable Model to Exhibit
ü
Exhibitions in India
are mostly driven by MSME. So time calls for implementing the Hybrid Model for
MSME Exhibitors. Make the supply chain alive by getting on to the hybrid model.
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Start with Domestic
Exhibitions in physical space and get International Buyers & Partners
through Digital platforms being travel restrictions in place for time being.
ü
Hybrid Model shall
also, help to expand the reach of an event bringing together attendees from
various locations and limitless.
ü
Digital is termed as
the sleeping beauty of Exhibitions.
How
to attract Visitors and Exhibitors post Pandemic with Social Distancing
Measures in place
ü
Going forward, one of the SOP’s to be followed by Organizers will be turning Exhibitors
Centric, Work on Visitor Profile, Tailor-Made Solutions for Exhibitors to
invite their preferred set and profile of buyers. Business Matching will be the
“NEW SOP”.
ü
Health & Safety
Budgets shall be increased going forward from Venues as well as organizers'
perspective.
ü
The time also calls
for Involving Government and ask for the more aggressive implementation of
Domestic market schemes. Approaching Government for support policies related to
virtual platforms or events even cannot be ruled out.
ü
Relaxed Payment
Policies, Focus on building confidence not profits, shall benefit all in the
supply chain.
ü
Collaboration and
Cooperation will be the new formula, Venues and Authorities shall play a major
role going forward to rebuild the trust and confidence in getting back business
on track.
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Listening to the
Market Leaders. Active Listening is the need of the hour to collate worthy
information for a new business model.
ü
Best time to use
digital space to interact with your past clients, exercise relationship
building with potential clients too, so interaction must go on for the time
being in lockdown period which shall ease and benefit once the business is back
to normal. Strengthen your consumer's database.
Venues have started working on a mechanism to position
themselves as a safe place for exhibitions. Apart from techniques easily
available including Heat cameras, quarantine pods, sanitizer stations, tracking
tech apps for registered visitors Brussels Expo, a part of Brussels City has
started the initiative of using UV-C, which is already in use by Hospitals,
Banking sectors at large. There are some apprehensions of UV lights being
dangerous but using it with a cylinder housed in a box does not allow exposure
of light and hence objective is met. It a trusted method already in use but not
the final answer. UV-C can be a game-changer for Indoor Spaces in the near
future.
Managing
Business & Demands
ü
3 C’s Theory to the
Rescue: Co-locate, Collaborate, & Consolidation. Small Organizers and even
show organizers from tier 2- Tier 3 cities may look at collaborating with Large
Players or even Association, Federation shows, with similar product lines. This
shall, in turn, lead to lesser venue costs, and help in bringing more traffic.
ü
The flexibility of
payments and contract terms are few of the answers, which can be tried by
various players in the industry.
ü
Innovation and New
Ideas are the need for the hour. Youth Will be Game Changer. Reaching out to
Youth can be worth a try, Engaging with them through competitions to get new
ideas will be the right methodology in present times.
ü
Industry leaders
predict by Diwali (Festival of Lights in India Nov. 2020) things shall change
and bring back favorable business times for exhibition business.
ü
Exhibitions shall
play a vital role in reigniting the Economy. Covid will also open doors to live
Marketing feeds for many players so be Ready to welcome New Era.
ü
It’s also time to
rethink and revamp the business model with the use of more nature-centric and
organic material in Exhibition Space.
ü
Nature Centric
products, More circulation of fresh air, Organic material, Holistic &
Non-Damaging Methods & techniques may be looked at.
Key Insights of Indian Exhibition Industry
Industrial exhibitions are the catalyst for promoting
trade and commerce. The Indian exhibition industry organizes over 550 events
annually with revenues of over Rs. 23,900 CRS. While direct exhibitor spends on
space rental and exhibition services is Rs. 3,250 crs the balance Rs. 20,650
crs arises out of indirect spending by participants on travel, hospitality, and
tourism. Government revenues, both GST and Income tax, generated by the
exhibition industry through its various components is estimated at Rs. 3,100
crs . Most importantly, the exhibition industry facilitates trade and business
transactions for exhibitors worth over Rs. 3 lakh crs, supporting the growth of
all industry, besides generating government revenues estimated at around Rs.
19,500 crs. Industrial exhibitions in particular play a vital role in promoting
trade, with an exhibitor spend to the business generation multiplier as high as
1:12. This is a large output for industry and significant revenues for the
government, which the country cannot forgo. The industry also generates
employment of over 120,000 people, engaged by various stakeholders both in the
organized and informal sectors, with a large number of them being
self-employed. The exhibition industry comprises three major stakeholders – Exhibition
venue owners; Exhibition organizers & Service providers; and Exhibitors.
