ES. You have been felicitated by the Honorary Magnolia award from Shanghai Mayor Gong and recently, you have started a new position as Member Board Of Directors at German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Shanghai. As an active participant in Shanghai’s economic development and exhibition industry, how would you describe your journey and what all tasks come as a part of your varied job roles.
Michael Kruppe. Due to the covid situation in China the daily life became more and more difficult especially as it is necessary to understand and follow government rules and regulations. In order to be closer to decision makers and have a quick understanding about possible future trends I saw it necessary for me to further involve and engage in economical and political environment. As part of the chamber of commerce I have direct access and dialogue with many foreign companies and thus can better understand their worries and problems. Being also close to the Chinese and especially Shanghai government also helps me and of course SNIEC to find a way to cooperate at an early stage and also to develop mid to long term strategies which should be beneficial to the exhibition industry.
ES. 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of SNIEC and despite covid SNIEC had showtime for around 6 months. 2022 however was disrupted by lockdowns and closure of the venue. How did you utilize this time to adapt, evolve and be ready for the new normal? What learning did you take from this period?
Michael Kruppe. It was a little bit sad birthday party as we could not really have a full event as we would have planned under normal conditions. However most of our customers came to attend a smaller gathering and in the end we all remain positive for the further development of our industry. So the next big party will be then for SNIEC’s 25th anniversary in 2026 and I already can promise you today that we will make up for what we have missed in 2021. Besides that in 2020 we gained experience in the first covid year, how to still run expos under severe conditions. The same happened in 2021, so at least we ran abt 50pct of the business by developing safety protocols and very close cooperation with government, police, CDC and of course our organizers. Well, 2022 then unfortunately proved to be to extreme and while beig in locked down for almost 4 months, SNIEC was even switched into a hospital, so finally in 2022 we had no expos at all.
In between we used the time formore training and educational program for our whole team so that we would be ready when the venue will reopen. But surely there is only so much you can train. 15 months of no business at all is a long period so the main challenge was to keep everybody motivated. But SNIEC is a strong family and we cant wait to welcome our first shows in march this year.
ES. China’s exhibition industry has experienced rapid growth for the past two decades, and it is now entering a period of consolidation and restructuring. How do you see the State of the Exhibition Industry in China and the overall industry outlook in 2023?
Michael Kruppe. The show must go on and the show will go on, after covid the people are hungry to meet on the floor. Our slogan is: NOTHING CAN REPLACE FACE TO FACE.
So we see a strong recovery in the coming 2 years.
ES. When you look at the glorious journey of SNIEC, what factors do you attribute to SNIEC’s success and the love it draws from the global show organisers?
Michael Kruppe. Back in 2014 when we face new competition in China I spoke personally and face to face with most of our customers and of course with my staff.
We developed a strategy which allows the customers to even more focus on the service element. Shortly after that we added the ever growing elements of safety and combining these factors is the key to success which our customer love to enjoy in SNIEC.
ES. What are some of the largest tradeshows held in SNIEC over the years and some of the shows that you are in particular fond of here at SNIEC?
Michael Kruppe. The largest shows in size are expos like baumachina, KBC, Furniture, Machine tool,Hotelex, etc these are very classical global leading expos. But we also have shows like Musicchina, Chinajoy, Prowine,PTC, etc. more and more of these shows nowadays also containing consumer elements which perfectly matches our strategy for the coming years.
ES. What are your comments on each of these topics – virtual shows, hybrid shows, artificial intelligence
Michael Kruppe. Well, let me give you a combined answer to that. All these categories are there and existing. More and more shows also include elements accordingly or even have a full show focusing on this. However, from observing the shows even before covid, I believe that the max share such parts can occupy will be 5-10 percent of a real face to face B2B or B2C show. So we are not afraid of losing something but we are ready to help to integrate the necessary elements.
ES. What according to you will be the upcoming trends in the exhibition industry?
Michael Kruppe. We see an increasing demand to more entertainment during the shows and certainly a strong request for b2c content and elements.
ES. What are some of the challenges surrounding the growth of exhibition industry?
Michael Kruppe. Of course digital events are there and will not go away. Especially younger professionals sometimes prefer that. We have to be careful not to ignore this, however at the same time we should not be afraid but, like I said before, find ways to integrate this trend into our B2B or B2C shows.
ES. Please highlight your upcoming plans.
Michael Kruppe. First step first. So we need to prepare SNIEC to be ready when the shows come back. Then we already did some planning on some of the things I said before, to offer more services and safety. I.e we built a VIP lounge which can be used for more events, even after show or late nights concerts, gala dinners, etc.
Then we of course have to discuss and talk about how to cooperate with the governments in different countries. I think one of the learning for many countries around the world was that exhibitions are the key driver for any economy. Here in China that is meanwhile understood and we need to keep lobbying this journey.
