The Beauty Of A Tradeshow

As I was preparing for a series of lectures covering the topic of Exhibitions (or Tradeshows - which is the term I prefer using), I was drawn into thinking about the usefulness and effectiveness of tradeshows. And I must admit that each time I do this, it just becomes clearer to me - tradeshows play an important and valuable role in ensuring the on-going development and progress of commerce and industry.

Simply put, a tradeshow is an event which brings 2 primary groups of business executives (or companies) together at a specific place and within a limited timeframe: those who have a product or service to offer; and those who are looking to utilise of buy the product/service. It is a very effective tool that ensures commerce takes places and develops.  I guess the best way to prove a point is to look at results of surveys or companies that have participated in tradeshows.  This one is a quick summary of one of the Oxford Economics Survey (http://www.oef.com/):

1. Tradeshows generate an average of 15% of a company's annual turnover.
2. Tradeshows have a "significant" impact on building partnerships, encouraging professional development and generating new insights.

Just to solidify the point I am making here, I thought that I'd include more photographs of the recently completed FHA2012.

The tradeshow floor starts to fill up with business executives looking for products or services on behalf of the companies they represent.

The level of activity and energy can be seen even at areas which are not considered prime locality on the tradeshow floor.

From what I have witnessed, it appears that companies and business executives in general still prefer to conduct commercial transactions in a "face-to-face" setting.

Singapore: 2011 Performance Stats for MICE

I just thought that it is an appropriate week to provide an update on Singapore's MICE sector's performance for 2011.  These figures I am quoting were released by the Singapore Tourism Board.

1. There was a 46% increase in the number of conventions, conferences and trade shows as compared to 2010.  A total of 2,130 such events were held in Singapore in 2011.
2. Tourism receipts (and this does not equate with economic values) from the sector increased by 10% to SGD 550 million.

I should also point out that the cost of running MICE events in Singapore has increased as well.  Some of the rise in costs are demand driven e.g. as with hotel rooms (more demand for rooms = higher room rates), and the strong Singapore dollar.

In 2011, a total of 13.2 million tourists visits were recorded, generating tourism receipts of SGD 22.2 billion.

Is there a need to re-focus Singapore's MICE sector?  As noted in my earlier blogs, more destinations and cities are jumping onto the MICE bandwagon.  Some of these have unique product offerings, and in general most of the competition offer lower price points.  The Singapore proposition, I expect, will continue to be attractive to organisers around the world. HOWEVER, I do see a need to evolve and re-focus as organisers will not always be willing to accept higher costs and overcrowding.

Visit to FHA 2012

I had the opportunity of visiting FHA 2012 this week.  FHA 2012 is one of the largest tradeshows that focuses on Asia's food and hotel sectors and in this instance, it is co-located with Wine & Spirits Asia. It was an interesting experience walking through 9 exhibition halls at Singapore Expo. One thing that struck me was the effort and resources exhibitors invested in their booths in terms of visual impact, collaterals, exhibits and overall attractiveness.  This was even evident with exhibitors which only had in-line booths.

What I did find missing was the high levels of excitement, activity and "buzz" as I walk through the show floor.  This, perhaps, was because I visited the tradeshow on its first day of operation and exhibitors need some time to settle in and get into the mix of things.

I just thought I'd share some photographs I took and my observations:



Take a look at the raised flooring for this booth



Look at the height of the Dilmah signage - increases the visibility from across the show floor

Examples of the effort invested in booth design

Over the course of the next couple of months, I will share more of my observations of FHA 2012.

MICE - The Business Rationale

In an article that appear in the 9th April (2012) issue of the Los Angeles Times, a soon-to-be-held trade show, known as 2012 International Pow Wow, is expected to result in an estimated US$ 10 mn inflow of spending for the city of Los Angeles.  The trade show is one of the largest trade shows for the travel industry in USA.  It will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre from 21-15 April this year.

The break down of the US$10 mn in spending includes an estimated US$ 9.7 mn being spent by trade show delegates on hotel rooms, food & beverage, and entertainment. The positive spillover effect, which takes into account the impact of a multiplier, could see an added US$ 350 mn worth of spending being generated over the coming 2-4 years as a result of the influx of domestic and international visitors to Los Angeles.

This got me thinking about the business rationale for destinations wanting to attract MICE-type events.  Its not just about the money, although the figures (as seen above) are mind-boggling.  There are a whole range of other benefits - some of which I have been already alluding to in previous posts in this blog.  I like the following schematic and think it provides a clear snapshot of the business rationale:

It goes beyond the revenue, tourism receipts and providing business for the events services sector.  It has to do with individual development, industries and commercial development, cultural exchange, the acquisition of knowledge, new technologies, best practices and skills. It is only when you begin to take into the varied impacts of hosting business events, does the rationale become much more clearer and in some ways so simple to understand.  This is driving the increasing push by cities around the world to be more competitive in the business events marketplace.

Singapore's MICE results for 2011

Singapore's business events (or MICE as it is referred to in this part of the world) sector recorded a 46% growth in the number of events to 2,130 conventions, conferences and tradeshows, as compared to 2010.  The sector is reported to have generated SGD 550 mn in tourism receipts, representing a 10% increase as compared to a year earlier.  These figures were recently released by the Singapore Tourism Board and augurs well for the sector.

The Board has also announced that it is setting aside SGD 265 mn from the Tourism Development Fund towards the developing and building of manpower capabilities and productivity.  The activities that fall under this initiative will include training programmes and scholarships.  MICE industry members have already recognised the existing shortfall in both manpower capabilities and productivity, and are calling for increased efforts to enhance talent development and retention.  They point to a gap in the boosting of MICE knowledge and raising skills levels of MICE professionals.

Some of the conclusions I am drawing from these reports and discussions with MICE industry professionals are:

1. Singapore's regional competitors have realised that there can be competitive advantages from have well-trained and skilled MICE professionals, and are therefore investing time, effort and money into skills development and manpower capability development.  Singapore will need to not only keep pace but exceed what is being done elsewhere in order to hold on to its competitive advantage.
2. Singapore's MICE sector is facing a dearth in terms of renewal of manpower and professionals.  There is an urgent need to draw young capable people into the industry, to equip them on an ongoing basis, and give them opportunities to learn from the experience of the MICE "old guard".
3. The MICE sector needs to make itself a whole lot more attractive to both young and mid-level professionals.  Afterall, the sector is really the premier segment of the tourism industry, and yet it still faces challenges in talent retention. There needs to be more concerted efforts to share the buzz, excitement and wow factors with the general marketplace.

Singapore: MICE is a key growth sector

I just happen to read an article that appeared in the Channel News Asia website. Singapore Tourism Board estimates that of the 13 million people who visited Singapore in 2011, one third of them did so to attend a business event.  The current focus of the Board is to develop Singapore as a "lifestyle and business events hub".

A couple of the industry executives interviewed noted that Singapore faces a shortfall in manpower capability and just simply numbers.  This is obviously something that is close to my heart.  The MICE sector is definitely in need of large injections of well-trained business events professionals.  Our regional competitors include major cities in Asean and North Asia.  In many cases we are unable to compete on a price basis, given Singapore's relatively high cost of running events.  However, our primary differentiator is capability and professionalism.  If we lose this, we will face extremely difficult challenges.

So it has become critical for Singapore to further build on our MICE capabilities and to attract more young, well-trained individuals to enter the sector.  There are amazing opportunities in the sector!

The REAL ROI of Business Events

One of the questions that has always bothered me is, "What is the true return on investment of business events?". A lot of the time, the ROI (return on investment) is presented in terms of the number of overseas visitors; the average spend of business travellers or business event attendees; tourism receipts; occupancy rates of business hotels and the number of business events hosted by a city or destination. 

While this is all well and good, I have been more interested in the business perspective and impacts on business that are wrought by the hosting of business events.  I have been, therefore, reading up and looking at both academic journals and publications.  One of the more enlightening papers I came across was one commissioned by the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) examining the contribution of business events to the economic and social wealth of the country.  I thought it would be good to just list some of the outcomes of business events as identified in this paper, which was titled "Delivering Innovation, Knowledge and Performance: The Role of Business Events":

1. Development of industry positions and policy.
2. Collaboration of new products and services.
3. Release of new research.
4. Improved organisation performance.
5. Encourage of investment and business migration.
6. Trade negotiations.
7. Introduction of new products and services to the market.

These impacts cut across the boundaries of corporations and commercial entities, industry associations, government agencies and NGOs.

In another study, commissioned by Oxford Economics, some 500 global business travellers and executives from the US, UK, Germany, Brazil and China were surveyed.  The findings included the following:

1. Trade shows and exhibitions generate an average of 15% of a company's annual revenue.
2. An estimated 50% of sales prospects become customers when a face-to-face meeting takes place as compared to a 31% conversion rate without a face-to-face meeting.
3. Some 64% of respondents noted that participating in trade shows and exhibitions prove to be 'significant' in building partnerships, professional development, generating new insights and career development.

So it appears that when considering the issue of ROI, the focus should not be limited to tourism-related statistics and figures.  The real value is how business events impacts the participating business executive, the company he represents, the industry his company is involved in, and ultimately the economy of the city or destination his company operates it.