Conferon Study: Event Attendance Grows

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 8/29/2005

Event attendance grew 4.4 percent in the first six months of 2005, according to the Conferon Global Services Trade Show/Convention Attendance Index, which surveyed more than 100 events that have occurred annually since 2002 and have collectively attracted more than 1.2 million attendees.

The second-quarter improvement of 4.5 percent nearly mirrors the results of the first three months of the year, when attendance grew 4.2 percent, according to CGS President Bruce Harris, who noted that the results are continuing evidence of the comeback of convention and tradeshow attendance from its doldrums in the first part of the decade.

The report indicates that 2005 annual attendance increases could nearly double the annual increases of 2.2 percent in 2003 and 2.7 percent in 2004. Harris said that, given the strength of the economy, CGS expects the positive trend to continue throughout the year, with attendance continuing to grow in 2006.

The findings generally correspond with Tradeshow Week's most recent quarterly report of tradeshow activity, said Michael Hughes, Tradeshow Week associate publisher and director of research services. TSW's Quarterly Report for the second quarter of 2005 found that tradeshow attendance grew 6.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2004; in the first quarter of 2005, there was an attendance increase of 4 percent over the same period in 2004.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research will release the findings of its 2005 Exhibition Industry Index at its Sept. 13 Exhibition Industry Senior Executives Summit in Washington, D.C.

CEIR's most recent index, the 2004 report, which benchmarked the business-to-business segment of the U.S. and Canadian exhibition industry, found positive results as well. According to CEIR, while net square footage showed the most improvement from 2003 to 2004, professional attendance also improved.