BANGKOK, 24 June 2007 — The global fair business has changed dramatically. It has changed in the last 10 years at a speed and intensity like never before.
“I am inclined to think that it has changed at a supersonic speed,” Jochen Witt, president of the Paris-based Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), told Arab News on the sidelines of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s 2007 event held here last week.
“Between 1995 and 2005, available exhibition capacity has more than doubled. Today, we are looking at a total fairground capacity of about 19 million square meters, compared to about eight to nine million square meters back in 1995,” said Witt, who was the keynote speaker at the event.
Competition is fierce as some regions have significant overcapacity and consolidation is starting to take place.
“Despite these facts, Asia, and in particular Thailand, has a bright future in the trade fair business, he said.
There are three professional organizations supporting the industry in its activities — Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau — a government organization that promotes the Thai MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry, the government department of export promotion and the Trade Exhibition Association, a private initiative that represents organizers, venue owners and service providers.
“It is certainly due to the dynamic activities of these organizations that Thailand today can be considered as one of the top destinations for MICE business in this part of the world,” Witt said.
