Market Dominance: Don't Mess With Texas
Jillian Dauer -- Tradeshow Week, 7/17/2006
While Dallas has adopted the slogan, "Live large. Think big," it could easily apply to the rest of the Lone Star state. Between hosting six Tradeshow Week 200 shows in 2005 and boasting the Dallas Market Center — dubbed the "largest wholesale resource in the world" by the Guinness Book of World Records — everything really is bigger in Texas. But that doesn't mean the other Southwestern states aren't pitching in.
Tradeshow Week Senior Assistant Editor Jillian Dauer examines the exhibitions industry in the Southwest.
Forecast
- According to Tradeshow Week research, at events held in the Southwest this year, roughly 111,000 exhibiting companies will present their products across 40.6 million net square feet to almost 6 million attendees. The region will take 7 percent of U.S. market share in terms of net square footage and exhibiting firms and 9 percent of attendees.
- The average Southwestern tradeshow is expected to occupy 100,654 net sq. ft. with 294 exhibiting companies and draw 7,211 attendees.
- Projections indicate that 318 exhibitors will span 135,200 net sq. ft. and attract 43,304 attendees to the average consumer show.
- The average combination show should bring 10,035 attendees to a 77,686 net sq. ft. showfloor occupied by about 192 exhibiting companies.
- While more than half of the region's events will be tradeshows, the other half is almost evenly split between consumer and combination shows, which make up 24 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Show sectors
- Due to the number of home and garden consumer events, home furnishings and interior design is the leading industry sector in the Southwest with 35 shows.
- Shows catering to the medical and health care industry came in second with 30 shows.
- The apparel sector came in third with 24 shows, which can be attributed partly to the existence of the Dallas Market Center. The venue will host 45 events, including five Women's & Children's Apparel & Accessories Markets and four Men's Apparel Markets.
Exhibition management
- As one of the top 10 U.S. show organizers, the Dallas Market Center Company will manage the most shows in the Southwest with 32.
- International Exhibitions came in second with its 21 home shows held throughout Texas.
Timing
- More than half of the region's events take place during the first half of the year. Thirty percent occur during the first quarter, followed by 25 percent in the second quarter. The third and fourth quarters each host about 16 percent of events in the Southwest.
- Dallas may be at the forefront of available exhibit space, but Phoenix and Houston are right on its heels with planned venue expansions. According to TSW research, the Reliant Astrodome plans to add 150,000 sq. ft. by 2009. The Phoenix Convention Center is tripling its size by expanding from 221,000 sq. ft. to 643,000 sq. ft. by January 2009. Expo Square in Tulsa, Okla., is also scheduled to add 43,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space by next spring.
Largest Tradeshows in the Southwestern Region (2005)
| Show |
Site |
TSW 200 Rank |
Size (net sq. ft.) |
| Offshore Technology Conference |
Reliant Center |
43 |
409,700 |
| HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition |
Dallas CC |
64 |
320,000 |
| APTA Intl. Public Transportation Expo 2005 |
Dallas CC |
77 |
278,700 |
| American Heart Assn. Scientific Sessions |
Dallas CC |
146 |
183,330 |
| American Urological Assn. Annual Meeting & Exhibition |
Henry B. Gonzalez CC |
152 |
174,770 |
| Southwest Foodservice Expo |
Dallas CC |
159 |
166,500 |
| The Great American Trucking Show |
Dallas CC |
160 |
165,000 |
| Nursery/Landscape Expo |
Dallas CC |
176 |
152,000 |
| Car Care World Expo |
Henry B. Gonzalez CC |
185 |
145,930 |
Ten Busiest Cities in the Southwestern Region (2006)
| City |
Total number of shows |
| Dallas |
86 |
| San Antonio |
56 |
| Houston |
42 |
| Phoenix |
38 |
| Austin, Texas |
29 |
| Grapevine, Texas |
15 |
| Fort Worth, Texas |
13 |
| Albuquerque, N.M. |
13 |
| Tucson, Ariz. |
13 |
| Oklahoma City |
9 |
