Home NEWS UFI Global Barometer provides updates on COVID-19 impact

UFI Global Barometer provides updates on COVID-19 impact

Feb 24, 2022

Industry recovery is accelerating, and global exhibition revenues are expected to reach 71% of 2019 levels, this year.

UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has released the latest edition of its flagship Global Barometer research, which takes the pulse of the industry.

The results highlight the quickening pace of the industry’s recovery in 2022, after the continuing impact of COVID-19 throughout 2021. There is a strong belief that the sector, primarily driven by physical exhibitions and business events, will bounce back quickly.

In terms of operations, the proportion of companies declaring “normal activity” has increased from less than two in ten, in July 2021, to around four in ten, between October 2021 and February 2022. And this looks set to increase to around six in ten companies expecting normal activity levels from March 2022. Subsequently, the proportion of companies expecting “no activity” dropped from 34% to 16% during the second half of 2021, and only 4-5% of companies expect no activity from March 2022.

The results vary depending on location and are primarily driven by confirmed or expected “reopening dates” for exhibitions. When asked what elements would most help towards the “bounce-back” of exhibitions, seven in ten companies selected “Lifting of current travel restrictions”, while five in ten selected “Readiness of exhibiting companies and visitors to participate again”, “Mid-term visibility in terms of public policies, including travel restrictions” and “Lifting of current public policies that apply locally to exhibitions”.

“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.”

Size and scope

This latest edition of UFI’s bi-annual industry survey was concluded in January 2022 and includes data from 401 companies in 53 countries and regions.

The study also includes outlooks and analysis for 24 focus countries and regions – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US – as well as an additional five aggregated regional zones.

The full study is available below.