Trade Show Executive

TSE DASHBOARD
SPONSORED BY
Optimism and Exhibit Space on Upswing
as January Trade Shows Kick Off 2013
BY DARLENE GUDEA, president; CAROL ANDREWS, editor-at-large, and HIL ANDERSON, senior editor
Oceanside, CA – January is arguably one
of the most important months of the year
for the trade show industry, and this year
may be a turning point in the agonizingly
slow recovery of the entire U.S. economy.
The 27 shows surveyed for the Trade
Show Executive (TSE) Dashboard of Monthly
Trade Show Metrics include flagship events
in various key industries and can reflect,
if not influence, the level of business
confidence for the entire new year.
Trade Show Executive found some
respectable improvement over 2012
in the hard numbers, and there were
also some very encouraging intangibles
in the form of buyer quality and the overall
buzz on the show floors. “The buyer
demographic at this show told us a story
of economic upswing,” said Christian
Falkenberg, senior vice president of
GLM and show manager for the New
York International Gift Fair. “Small retailers
are demonstrating renewed optimism,
and buyers are now travelling greater
distances to shop the New York market.”
The sunny sentiment was echoed
in Detroit where the North American
International Auto Show drew nearly
800,000 ticketed attendees. “This was
a true celebration of the automobile, and
a demonstration of the strength and resiliency
of the auto business," said Jim Seavitt,
chairman of the show. “The Detroit show
is a true reflection of a strong, vibrant
and more confident industry.”
The upbeat atmosphere at the shows
surveyed for the Dashboard did not exactly
translate to gangbuster numbers for the
critical categories of exhibit space, number
of exhibitors and attendance. But the metrics
for exhibitor and exhibit space were
definitely headed in the right direction.
The adjusted totals for January revealed
a 2.1% increase in exhibit space and
2.4% growth in the number of exhibitors.
Attendance, however, was down (1.6)%
from January 2012. Last January produced
a (0.5)% slip in attendance over 2011,
but exhibit space started off 2012 with
a 3.1% gain and the exhibitor count was
3.7% higher than 2011. For the full year,
the metrics came in at a 2.4% growth
in exhibit space and 1.5% increase in
exhibitors. Attendance, which tends
to lag during tough times, was up 2.9%.
Meanwhile, the exhibition industry
led off 2013 by sending some of its heaviest
hitters to the plate. Of the 27 shows
surveyed, 21 reported 100,000 net square
feet (nsf) or more of exhibit space and
17 were large enough to be included on
the latest TSE Gold 100 lineup of largest
U.S. trade shows. Two of the shows
were on the TSE Fastest 50.
A dozen of the Dashboard shows held
steady or saw increases in all three metrics;
only two were down in all three categories.
Continued on page 24
Driving Attendance. An improving economy, intriguing new car designs and new fuel effi cient hybrids
combined to draw a huge crowd to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Exhibit space
also grew, topping 750,000 nsf.
www.TradeShowExecutive.com | March 2013 23