Growth of the tradeshow industry in Asia was boosted in 2011 by strong increases in Southeast Asia, according to the eighth edition of UFI’s annual report on the tradeshow market in Asia.
Overall, exhibition space sales grew by 2.6 percent last year. Net area sold by organizers in Asia reached a total of 171.1 million square feet. Of that total, almost 55 percent was sold in China and 12 percent was sold in Japan. The research was once again undertaken for UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, by Business Strategies Group (BSG) in Hong Kong.
Growth was clearly highest in Southeast Asia in 2011. Singapore and Malaysia were the fastest growing markets in 2011 – up 15 percent and 14 percent respectively. The exhibition market in the Philippines grew by 8.8 percent. Vietnam was the only exception to this Southeast Asian trend, posting growth of just 1.2 percent.
The larger exhibition markets grew notably more slowly in 2011. Asia’s largest market, China, grew by 2.5 percent, while India posted an increase of 3.3 percent. Two other large markets, Korea and Hong Kong, grew by 2.2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
Three exhibition markets contracted in 2011. Australia slipped by 1 percent and the small exhibition market in Macau dropped by almost 11 percent. Japan, the second largest exhibition market in Asia, contracted by nearly 3 percent, following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.
“The exhibition industry in Asia continues to be a remarkably dynamic and fast-growing market,” said Paul Woodward, managing director, UFI. “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.”
In terms of capacity, by the end of 2012 there will be almost 69,857,778 square feet available at venues in Asia. That is up from 32,291,731 square feet 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 percent of all venue capacity in Asia is now in China – more than 12 times the next largest market, Japan.
“As a result, a rising number of international exhibition organizers are looking to participate in the growth in Asia,” said Woodward. “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.”
