Reposted from Wen Hui Bao. Author: Chen Wei.
As the center of gravity of the global exhibition industry accelerates its eastward shift, the 83rd UFI Global Congress will be held in Shanghai for the first time. UFI's then president Sergey Alexeev said at a press conference yesterday that over the past decade and more, venues in China and across Asia had grown rapidly. Shanghai alone had added two mega exhibition venues, its exhibition area had become the largest in the world, and its exhibition organizing capacity was continuing to improve. China is playing an important role in the global exhibition industry and will become even more significant in the future.
According to the introduction, UFI has a history of 91 years and is the only global association for the exhibition industry. Hosted by the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, the 83rd UFI Global Congress will be held from November 9 to 12 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. Exhibition industry leaders, CEOs, young leaders and senior international experts from more than 40 countries and regions will gather to discuss the rapidly developing exhibition industry. With the theme The Chain Reaction: Transforming the Exhibition Industry, the congress will directly address many changing realities in the industry, such as the challenges brought by digitalization and the impact of global economic shifts on exhibitions.
UFI Managing Director Kai Hattendorf said that UFI members are currently spread across 84 countries and regions. Exhibition enterprises under its membership employ more than 70,000 people, draw 260 million visitors each year, involve 4.4 million exhibitors, and generate exhibition turnover of one trillion euros. Although the rapid development of the Internet has changed the overall economic landscape, people still need face-to-face exchange. For this reason, the exhibition market still has broad prospects.
Chen Xianjin, president of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, said Shanghai was one of the regions in China where the exhibition industry started early, developed quickly, reached a high level of internationalization and gained strong influence. Shanghai has now become the city with the largest available exhibition area in the world, providing sufficient conditions for holding large and mega exhibitions. As China's economic center, Shanghai has strong regional influence. The Shanghai Municipal Government has set the goal of building an international exhibition capital over the next five years, which gives the city strong appeal for the international exhibition industry. He believes that the Internet will profoundly change the exhibition industry ecosystem. Exhibitions will not disappear, but business models and forms of presentation will change greatly.
