- Exhibition organisers and venue operators state that service providers have a relatively high impact on overall event success. 

- Satisfaction with service providers within the industry is relatively high, whilst the length of collaboration between clients and customers has a big impact on overall satisfaction levels. 

- Key areas of investment over the next 12-18 months are perceived to be marketing and communications, and event technology and software. 

 Exhibition organisers and venue operators state that service providers have a relatively high impact on overall event success. This is a core finding from the first edition of the new Industry Partners Benchmark Survey, released by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Developed by the UFI Industry Partners Working Group, the survey benchmarks and assesses the relationships between industry partners/suppliers and exhibition organisers/venues. It also identifies areas for improvement with regard to collaboration. More than 200 companies contributed to the project, the majority of whom are from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. 

“We believe this is the first survey of its kind in our industry to focus on the value that organisers place on their suppliers. The survey will be of great interest to suppliers and partners worldwide, by providing key insights into the true nature of the relationships between organisers and the companies that support their events,” says Ravinder Sethi, Chair of UFI’s Industry Partners Working Group. 

The survey demonstrates that industry partners are regarded as an essential and valuable component of the exhibition industry, with overall satisfaction levels with regard to service delivery being relatively high. The results also indicate that some of the less-utilized services may have a stronger impact on the outcome of an event than those more heavily relied upon, while the duration of cooperation between industry partners and their customers have a strong positive correlation to satisfaction levels.

Despite the overall positive feedback, the survey highlights the demand for more innovation from industry partners, and indicates that an increase in data sharing between industry partners and their customers could bring additional value. 

“This survey is a result of UFI’s Industry Partners Working Group, which has been set up for and run by our industry partner members – a diverse group of motivated industry experts offering a broad range of services. The collaboration between organisers, venues, and service partners is more important than ever, now that we are dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,” says UFI President Anbu Varathan. 

The Industry Partners Benchmark Survey was conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Industry Partners Working Group is dedicated to running the survey on a regular basis, in order to reflect the ongoing challenges and impact on the exhibition industry. The Industry Partners Benchmark Survey can be downloaded from the UFI website atjavascript:nicTemp();