Brother to Brother: Mexico Leads Latin America

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 1/31/2005

With Latin America emerging as a player in the global economy of the 21st century, its tradeshow industry is sure to catch the attention of organizers looking for international opportunities.

Although countries throughout Central and South America are distinguishing themselves as growth centers, Mexico continues to dominate Latin America as the country with the strongest tradeshow industry.

But rather than holding back its fellow Latin American countries as a means of maintaining its competitive edge, Mexico likes to think of itself as a big brother, who will help raise its up-and-coming siblings.

Ask global investors where the money is right now, and many will refer to the "BRIC" (Brazil, Russia, India and China). U.S. tradeshow organizations are jumping on that bandwagon. Citing strength in the Brazilian economy, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority last September took a group of organizers responsible for 28 of the city's biggest shows on a trade mission to Sao Paulo.

But while Brazil may be the new kid on the block, Mexico is an established presence.

In her presentation on Latin America's role in the rapidly expanding global market, during the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management's Expo! Expo! in San Antonio last December, Patricia Farias-Barlow, president and CEO of Farias Global Expos, noted that Brazil may have the largest population, but Mexico has the strongest gross domestic product — and the most developed tradeshow industry.

According to Latin Trade magazine, the gross domestic product of Mexico in 2003 was $626 billion, compared with Brazil's $498 billion and Argentina's $130 billion. Latin Trade expects Mexico's GDP to grow 4.1 percent from 2003 to 2004, and Brazil's to grow 3.8 percent.

The North American country has many advantages — one of which is simply being North American.

Carlos Navarro, editor of SourceMex, a publication of the University of New Mexico's Latin American and Iberian Institute, pointed out that the geographic proximity of Mexico to the United States makes it easy to develop business opportunities between the two. It is common for U.S. states to lead trade delegations to Mexico, he said.

On the other hand, Dick Lenahan, a senior counselor with the U.S. Commercial Service in Las Vegas who collaborated with the LVCVA on its trade mission to Sao Paulo, at the time described the mission as the first of its kind. "Brazil is a complicated country to do business in," he said.

Then, there's the North American Free Trade Agreement. "A lot was developed in preparation for NAFTA," said Navarro, including convention facilities and other services related to business travel.

But Mexico does not lord these advantages over its Latin American brethren, according to Arturo Gamboa de Buen, CEO of Octanorm Mexico and the current president of AMPROFEC, the Mexican equivalent of IAEM. Instead, the country is taking its role as a leader very seriously.

"We expect to be a kind of bridge for the tradeshow industry between North America and Latin America," said Gamboa de Buen. "We feel, because of our geographic position and our leadership in Latin America, we can play that role in the near future. Countries like Peru, Colombia and Venezuela see us as the big brother with more experience and a better infrastructure."

AMPROFEC is part of COCAL, the Latin American Confederation of Congresses and Similar Organizations, and is in close contact with AFIDA, the American Assn. of Intl. Fairgrounds, and national associations like the Argentine Assn. of Congress and Exhibition Organizers, or AOCA.

In December 2003, Gamboa de Buen signed an agreement with IAEM to administer the U.S. association's Certified in Exhibition Management program throughout Latin America, except Brazil (because the official language there is Portuguese instead of Spanish). He said that as of now the program has 55 students and is trying to get 25 of them certified by the middle of this year.

Gamboa de Buen earlier this month made a trip to El Salvador — as part of a mission by AMPROFEC, the Mexican chapters of Meeting Professionals Intl. and the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives — where he spoke to the country's vice president and minister of tourism about the promise of meetings, convention and exhibition business. He hopes to continue such outreach throughout Latin America.

Brazil notwithstanding, Gamboa de Buen feels Argentina is Mexico's closest competitor in terms of tradeshow business. In fact, Latin Trade's consensus forecast shows Argentina's GDP growing at a rate of 8.7 percent in 2003 and an estimated 7.4 percent in 2004.

This growth is partly due to the country's recovery from economic collapse in 2001. Argentina has begun to stabilize, ranking third in Latin America after Mexico and Brazil, in terms of goods production.

Mexico and Argentina also overlap in several areas where they excel tradeshow-wise. Farias-Barlow's presentation included five industries the two tradeshow destinations have in common: food processing and packaging, medical equipment, building materials, electrical power, and security and safety.

But longtime Argentine show organizer Sara Viton, who founded Viewpointe with her husband in Argentina in 1986 and has been vice president and secretary of AOCA, doesn't think of Mexico as the competition.

Viton explained, "Mexico has such a big market, and they are near the U.S.A., which makes it easier."

Still, she added, several large international congresses have gone to Argentina recently. She estimated that the country hosted 408 tradeshows in 2004, 133 of them in the agro-industrial sector and 275 in the energy sector — areas where Argentina is surfacing as a leader.

The problem in Argentina, Viton said, is one of infrastructure. While it has many nice hotels, Buenos Aires has only two convention centers, La Rural - Predio Ferial de Buenos Aires and Centro Costa Salguero.

In the 1990s, international show organizers from Europe and the U.S. had begun to establish a presence in Argentina, but during the economic crisis of the last few years, all but E.J. Krause and Messe Frankfurt pulled out. To rebuild the business will mean enticing them back, as well as looking to Asia.

This is already happening, Viton said, citing a Canadian association that is bringing 80 companies to Arminera, a large mining exposition produced by Viewpointe. But she does not believe that Latin American countries will compete with each other to bring business from certain places or industries. Rather, each one tends to focus on its own strengths.