Value of the B2B trade show market in the United States from 2012 to 2024

The state of trade shows in corona times

In early 2020, following the Covid-19 outbreak, industries not based on digital presence came to a screeching halt. Both event planners and suppliers were expecting their revenues to decline by 50 to 75 percent as a result of the outbreak and industry professionals cancelling their planned events for the year. Trade show marketers needed to adapt quickly to be able to profit at least slightly that year. And so, B2B marketers immediately went on to replace some of the planned live events with webinars to address clients online. The potential loss of customers was quite high, seeing that a large share of conventions and exhibitions in the U.S. boasted visitor numbers ranging from 200 to 2,500. In order to make the online events as engaging as in-person conventions, B2B marketers employed interactive features, chats, and live-streaming in their webinars. All in all, it remains to be seen what the future of trade shows brings, but analysts are certain that a hybrid solution, consisting of both online and offline event features might be the winning option in the near future.

Most important issues facing the exhibition industry worldwide 2020

In June 2020, the impact of COVID-19 on businesses was believed by the global exhibition industry to be the most important, with 27 percent of survey respondents citing the pandemic as the most important issue for the industry. Economic issues came next, with 21 percent of respondents citing the economy in home market, and 18 percent citing competition from within the industry, as the second and third most important issues for the industry.

The exhibition industry

The exhibition industry is a somewhat broad concept, including all organized events to present or display a selection of some type of item. At one end of the spectrum this includes public exhibitions of art or history in a gallery or museum, while at the other end are trade fairs, where goods and services associated with a specific industry are exhibited to invited guests only. Despite the variations both sides of the industry are business-focused – the most popular art exhibitions can attract upwards of a million visitors, while the trade fair industry generated global revenues of over 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.

Trade fairs

In many respects, the challenges facing the trade show industry are more complex than that facing the art and history exhibitions, given the restricted supply of items to be exhibited for the latter. Technological developments such as digital advertising social media may reduce the need for physical shows to create product awareness – although the two are not mutually exclusive, as the internet can also be used to promote exhibitions. The face-to-face nature of trade shows also provides a unique opportunity for networking. Interestingly, while the trade fair industry is largest in the United States, the largest trade fair organizers tend to be European companies.