Investment in exhibition and other meeting space continued throughout the pandemic, new research revealed.
China has the most exhibition space to offer, and overall, Asia saw the most investment in new venues since 2017, according to The World Map of Exhibition Venues.
The research released by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, looks at countries that offer more than 300,000 sqm of total available exhibition space, totalling 21 markets for this report. These equate to 1,351 exhibitions venues worldwide providing 40.5 million sqm of exhibition space.
China is now home to 25.2 per cent of the world’s venue capacity and the average size of venues in the Asia-Pacific region exceed that of any other region, a result of the many infrastructure projects in the region, especially in China.
UFI CEO and managing director, Kai Hattendorf, said: “It is remarkable to see that global investments into upgrades and expansions have continued throughout the pandemic, and as we enter a more optimistic phase, it is important to highlight the scale of this capacity, which can benefit both the industries served by exhibitions, and the destinations in which they take place.”
“This updated World Map displays the space available around the world for organising exhibitions and other face-to-face events. It represents the industry’s most holistic and complete quantitative dataset.”
This research included all exhibition venues with a minimum of 5,000 sqm of gross indoor exhibition space. Regionally, Europe is home to 39 per cent of the world’s total venue capacity, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (32 per cent) and North America (20 per cent).
In terms of size, the number of “mega venues” – those with more than 100,000 sqm of space – has stalled in relative terms. This edition of the World Map now counts 73 such venues around the world, accounting for 5 per cent of the total market, similar in percentage terms to 2017 when there were 62 venues fitting that description.
More than one-third (35 per cent) of all venues belong to the medium-size segment, offering between 20,000 and 100,000 sqm. While 60 per cent of venues globally have an indoor capacity of between 5,000 and 20,000 sqm.
Europe and the Asia-Pacific present the largest number of venues with more than 100,000 sqm of space – 39 and 23 venues respectively.
The 2022 UFI World Map of Exhibition Venues covers the following markets: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom and the USA.
You can read the full report here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
