CEIR Report Demonstrates Q1 Strength

The exhibition industry was healthy in the first quarter, according to a report by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. The rosy results, in fact, somewhat contradict the more mixed performance detailed in Tradeshow Week's own report on the industry's first quarter (See "Tradeshows Experience Ups, Downs in All Indexes," May 21, 2007).

The CEIR Index reported that year-to-date tradeshow revenue rose 5.3 percent to generate $2.94 billion in revenue compared with the same period in 2006. Attendance grew 3.1 percent, net square footage 0.2 percent and the number of exhibitors 0.6 percent.

TSW's Quarterly Report of Tradeshow Statistics noted first-quarter gains in net square footage and exhibiting companies, but drops in attendance. It found attendance down 1.6 percent compared with last year, net square footage up 2.8 percent and the number of exhibiting firms up 0.3 percent.

American Business Media President and CEO Gordon Hughes said ABM's recent research concurred with CEIR's. ABM found that tradeshow revenue continued to outpace business-to-business advertising revenue in the first quarter. B-to-B ad pages declined 2.9 percent and ad revenue 1.2 percent.

Michael Hughes, TSW associate publisher and research director, noted that the discrepancy between the CEIR and TSW Quarterly Report results suggested that different shows and industry segments were covered in each data set. Tradeshow Week has tracked shows in its Quarterly Reports since the 1970s and lists the names of the shows whose results it reports on, he added.

ABM's Hughes predicted tradeshow revenue would continue to grow, while magazine revenue would remain flat. "We'll continue to see nice growth in the face-to-face element of our business. The $11 billion magazine industry won't go away, but will become a smaller piece of the pie," he said.