I just attended the 84th UFI Global Congress at Johannesburg where delegates from over 55 countries gathered to discuss about the pressures and profit in exhibition industry. As the them goes, this year most of delegates to whom i talked to, shared with me that the most immediate challenge that lies ahead is of digital disruption. The participants were concerned that the digital disruption may hit us unmarked like it did with some other industries. including the taxi travel. i.e., the uberisation effect! Another good feedback was that it will also result in smaller stall space requests by exhibitors as they may choose to display most of products and information virtually. Another situation that lies in front of
us is – What do we do with all the DATA that we have? data is the biggest asset yet we are not managing it well. we need a crop of people who understand it well and can present it meaningfully to us. when talking about the opportunities, they said that the emerging markets in Asia pacific will drive growth. Share your feedback with me at raghav@exhibitionshowcase.com
