Over 420 events professionals from UFI members in more than 50
countries met today in St. Petersburg (Russia) to review UFI’s work throughout 2018 and confirm plans for the year ahead.
The 2018 UFI General Assembly took place before UFI’s Global Congress, “The Dynamics of Transition – Our Industry’s Complex Future”. Chaired by UFI’s 2018 President, Corrado Peraboni, the General Assembly highlighted an array of new initiatives supporting UFI’s 780 members in 86 countries. Global membership has grown by another 5% this year.
Corrado Peraboni, UFI’s 2018 President comments: “It has been a busy year serving the growing global community of UFI members around the world. Never before has the UFI team organised this many meetings and events for our industry, and we have seen a record number of participants. After a year as UFI President, I can say with conviction that there is no other global community like this in our industry.” Peraboni continues: “I especially want to highlight two developments: firstly, with the opening of our regional office in Bogota (Colombia), UFI now has a presence in all our four regions around the world. This is a vital milestone in our strategic project of ‘glocalisation’, where we are investing to serve our members close to their respective homes. Secondly, I am very happy to share that we now have more than 1,000 “UFI Approved Events” in 75 countries. This certification is a globally recognised standard of quality, as all the shows that carry
it are audited.”
Over 1,300 industry professionals attended the broad array of UFI events around the globe, from the “Global CEO Summit” in Cannes (France) to the “UFl Global Congress” in St. Petersburg (Russia). UFI’s Global CEO Summit, the exhibition industry’s annual curtain-raiser event, kick-started a year that saw two global events, three regional conferences and three topical meetings all around the world, with many informal meetings and gatherings as well. In Asia, UFI is now a registered NGO in China, the first international business events industry association to receive this status. It allows the association to serve as a link between the members and the authorities in a better way. Along with this status, UFI opened an UFI China Service Centre in Shanghai.
