The revival of MICE industry worldwide has gathered pace, building on momentum from the second half of last year says a report by industry association. While the pace and depth of growth is different around the world, indications remain strong of a global pick up in the current year.

The global exhibitions industry has picked up pace of revival as most players around the world are now more positive about their prospects and current conditions than ever before since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2019.

A report by UFI, the worldwide association of the exhibition industry, highlights the quickening pace of the industry’s recovery in 2022, even as the pandemic continued to impact the business and the mood in the industry throughout last year. The Global Barometer published by UFI says that there is a strong belief that the sector, primarily driven by physical exhibitions and business events, will bounce back quickly.

The best signs of return to normalcy come from the percentage of companies declaring “normal activity”. Worldwide, this number has doubled from 2 in 10 in July 2021 to 4 in 10 in February 2022 and this number is set to rise further to 6 in 10 by end of this month, says the report.

Significantly, the number of companies reporting zero activity has fallen from 34 pc to 16 pc and by end of March only 4-5 pc firms expect no business at all.

Different destinations, varying expectations

The barometer highlights that the pace and depth of revival is quite different in various parts around the world, continuing with the trend that began in 2021. In most parts the revival and the mood in the business community depends on confirmed or expected reopening dates for exhibitions.

The strongest growth has come from the Americas, both North and South. In North America, the proportion of companies declaring a normal level of activity has jumped from less than 10 pc in July 2021 to 60 pc in February 2022. But even faster revival has been seen in markets across Central and South America, most companies saw normal activity levels between September and November 2021, and more than 80 pc expect normal activity levels from February 2022.

Across in Europe, the picture varies by country as even though overall most European companies saw normal activity levels between October and November 2021, and expect the same from March 2022, but in countries like Germany, for instance, return to normalcy is not seen before May 2022. In sharp contrast, a majority of companies have been seeing normal activity in Russia, Spain and, to some extent, Turkey.

Similarly, the situation also varies by country across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa, where Japan and UAE appeared to be less severely hit than other countries during the second half of 2021, and only Australia, India and Malaysia are also expecting to return to normal activity levels during the first half of 2022.

Travel restrictions biggest hurdle

Though the mood is definitely on the upswing across the world, the common complaint from various exhibition organisers relates to the continuing travel restrictions imposed by countries on cross-border travels. Though conditions are being eased, notably in Europe and some parts of the Middle East, the pace is not uniform at all and in many countries, notably in South and South-East Asia, the entry conditions for foreigners remain challenging, to say the least.

The Global Barometer confirms this challenge as it says that when asked what elements would most help towards the bounce-back of exhibitions, 70 pc of companies said lifting of current travel restrictions would matter the most. Additionally, 50 pc firms said that readiness of exhibiting companies and visitors to participate again was also important, as was the mid-term visibility in terms of public policies, including travel restrictions and removal of current public policies that apply locally to exhibitions.

Among other issues raised in the report, 53 pc companies said that they received no public financial support, and for the majority of those who did, financial public aid represented less than 10 pc of their overall costs.

Another significant outcome is that despite the popularity of virtual meetings, including the video conferencing, an overwhelming proportion of companies say face to face meetings are key. As many as 80 pc companies hold the view that Covid-19 confirms the value of face-to-face events. Incidentally, this number has risen from 64 pc last year, showing that physical meetings remain irreplaceable despite technological advancements. “The sun is finally rising at the end of a long, dark pandemic,” says Kai Hattendorf, managing director and CEO at UFI.

“The perspectives for 2022 are brighter and continue to improve quickly. As the industry bounces back, the key issues now facing companies are around internal management issues and the impact of digitisation. As the value of physical events is constantly reinforced, we are well on track to achieve pre-pandemic levels of activity,” Hattendorf adds.