EMECA Press Releases
European Major Exhibition Centres Association:
Credit crunch hinders exhibiting throughout
Europe
- Recovery phase for European exhibitions longer than expected
- Investment in services, customer retention and new products as ways out of the crisis
- Public exhibitions surprisingly positive
- EMECA approves energy efficiency study
The restrictive lending policy of the banks as well as the partial or total cut-back of export promotion measures by the countries and regions are making it difficult for small and medium enterprises throughout Europe to take part in exhibitions. This was the unanimous complaint voiced by the 18 leading European exhibition centres – the members of EMECA (European Major Exhibition Centres Association) – at the autumn conference in Frankfurt that ended today. “For small and medium enterprises in particular, exhibitions are the most important part of marketing and sales activities,” explains EMECA President René Kamm, CEO of Swiss market leader MCH Group. EMECA fears that the emerging recovery will not take place for many European companies if this practice continues.
René Kamm is not easily impressed, but his EMECA colleagues have succeeded again. “It is great to see how boldly the European exhibition venues are reacting to the persistent economic crisis by creating new services on their sites and on the Internet, strengthening the instruments for customer retention and launching new exhibitions at the same time,” says the EMECA President. So there was no sign of a crisis mood at the General Assembly of the EMECA members that has just ended. “It was more an atmosphere of concentrated earnestness during the discussion of issues and the description of the current economic situation in the individual centres,” says Bernd A. Diederichs, CEO NürnbergMesse and Vice President Communication at EMECA.
The credit crunch, for example: Enrique Calomarde, Secretary General of Feria Valencia in Spain, and his colleagues have developed a loan scheme in cooperation with a regional bank that enables companies to take part in exhibitions in 2010. The loan is repaid later, perhaps even with the revenues from the orders obtained at the exhibition. This innovative instrument is urgently necessary. After all, the whole Spanish exhibition market is fighting losses of 20 % and more in the number of exhibitors.
Recovery phase for European exhibitions longer than expected
Spain is still affected most by the continuing recession. The global financial and economic crisis in Spain is aggravated by the bursting of the building bubble, which is sending shock waves to other economic sectors. In Italy, there are increasing signs that the expansive growth of exhibition areas in the past years is now leading to hard cut-throat competition, which endangers profitability, as it doesn’t spare rent prices either. The exhibition centres in France and Germany show a high degree of stability, with a negative depot effect expected in Germany due to exhibition cycles. The smaller exhibition countries like Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal are also holding their ground well. The unanimous opinion is that 2010 will be a year of suspense. Michael von Zitzewitz, CEO Messe Frankfurt and Vice President EU at EMECA, even looks further ahead: “2010 will certainly be more difficult than 2009, 2011 perhaps even more difficult.” A sustained recovery is not expected until 2012. Overall, however, Europe will have the best position in relation to the rest of the world and at the end of the crisis will emerge as the winner in the global competition between exhibitions.
The favourable above-average performance of the public exhibitions throughout Europe was noted with surprise. These were not spared a drop in the number of exhibitors either, usually in the single-digit percentage range, but in some cases attracted appreciably more visitors. “If holidays are cut back, public exhibitions are a welcome change for many people,” says Marc Granier, Deputy CEO of Viparis and Vice President Strategy at EMECA. On the other hand, sectors such as automotive, machinery, electronics and IT suffered above-average losses.
EMECA approves energy efficiency study
The General Assembly in Frankfurt accepted the proposal of the EMECA Technical Working Group and decided to conduct a study on the energy efficiency of new exhibition halls and halls in need of renovation. The new sites are to provide information for the energy-efficient construction of more new halls. The old buildings are to be examined to determine what renovation measures must be adopted to cut energy consumption permanently. “Raising the potential in this area is in the interest of everyone, the customers, the site owners and the environment,” says René Kamm.
About EMECA
The 18 EMECA venues organize some 1,200 exhibitions a year with around 388,000 exhibitors and 43.5 million visitors on a gross rented display area of about 36 million square metres. According to their own estimates, the exhibiting companies generate a turnover of some 800 billion euros through exhibitions. A KMPG study shows that the economic effects initiated by exhibitions at the EMECA venues amount to some 16 billion euros and secure over 360,000 jobs in Europe.
The EMECA Board is headed by President René Kamm (CEO of the MCH Group, formerly Swiss Exhibition). Michael von Zitzewitz (CEO Messe Frankfurt) is Vice President responsible for European Union relations, and Bernd A. Diederichs (CEO NürnbergMesse) acts as Vice President Communication. Marc Granier (Viparis) is Vice President responsible for Strategy, Development and Statutes. Giovanni Mantovani (CEO Fiera Verona) is Vice President Infrastructure and Technical Studies. The EMECA treasurer is Enrique Calomarde (Secretary General Feria Valencia). EMECA has its headquarters in Brussels. The EMECA General Secretary is Jörn Kronenwerth.
The EMECA members:
Belgium:
Brussels Expo
Germany:
Deutsche Messe (Hanover), Messe Frankfurt, NürnbergMesse, Landesmesse Stuttgart
France:
EUREXPO – Centre de Conventions e d’Expositions de Lyon, VIPARIS, Paris
Italy:
BolognaFiere, Fiera Milano, Rimini Fiera, VeronaFiere
The Netherlands:
Royal Dutch Jaarburs Utrecht
Portugal:
Feira Internacional de Lisboa
Switzerland:
MCH Group (Basel, Zurich), Geneva Palexpo
Spain:
Fira de Barcelona, IFEMA – Feria de Madrid, Feria Valencia
Press and media contact:
Peter Ottmann
Member of the Management Board of NürnbergMesse
EMECA Press Spokesman
Messezentrum
90471 Nürnberg
Tel +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-83 15
Fax +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-86 40
pressesprecher@nuernbergmesse.de
www.emeca.com
November 10, 2009
 | |
- Recovery phase for European exhibitions longer than expected
- Investment in services, customer retention and new products as ways out of the crisis
- Public exhibitions surprisingly positive
- EMECA approves energy efficiency study
The restrictive lending policy of the banks as well as the partial or total cut-back of export promotion measures by the countries and regions are making it difficult for small and medium enterprises throughout Europe to take part in exhibitions. This was the unanimous complaint voiced by the 18 leading European exhibition centres – the members of EMECA (European Major Exhibition Centres Association) – at the autumn conference in Frankfurt that ended today. “For small and medium enterprises in particular, exhibitions are the most important part of marketing and sales activities,” explains EMECA President René Kamm, CEO of Swiss market leader MCH Group. EMECA fears that the emerging recovery will not take place for many European companies if this practice continues.
René Kamm is not easily impressed, but his EMECA colleagues have succeeded again. “It is great to see how boldly the European exhibition venues are reacting to the persistent economic crisis by creating new services on their sites and on the Internet, strengthening the instruments for customer retention and launching new exhibitions at the same time,” says the EMECA President. So there was no sign of a crisis mood at the General Assembly of the EMECA members that has just ended. “It was more an atmosphere of concentrated earnestness during the discussion of issues and the description of the current economic situation in the individual centres,” says Bernd A. Diederichs, CEO NürnbergMesse and Vice President Communication at EMECA.
The credit crunch, for example: Enrique Calomarde, Secretary General of Feria Valencia in Spain, and his colleagues have developed a loan scheme in cooperation with a regional bank that enables companies to take part in exhibitions in 2010. The loan is repaid later, perhaps even with the revenues from the orders obtained at the exhibition. This innovative instrument is urgently necessary. After all, the whole Spanish exhibition market is fighting losses of 20 % and more in the number of exhibitors.
Recovery phase for European exhibitions longer than expected
Spain is still affected most by the continuing recession. The global financial and economic crisis in Spain is aggravated by the bursting of the building bubble, which is sending shock waves to other economic sectors. In Italy, there are increasing signs that the expansive growth of exhibition areas in the past years is now leading to hard cut-throat competition, which endangers profitability, as it doesn’t spare rent prices either. The exhibition centres in France and Germany show a high degree of stability, with a negative depot effect expected in Germany due to exhibition cycles. The smaller exhibition countries like Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal are also holding their ground well. The unanimous opinion is that 2010 will be a year of suspense. Michael von Zitzewitz, CEO Messe Frankfurt and Vice President EU at EMECA, even looks further ahead: “2010 will certainly be more difficult than 2009, 2011 perhaps even more difficult.” A sustained recovery is not expected until 2012. Overall, however, Europe will have the best position in relation to the rest of the world and at the end of the crisis will emerge as the winner in the global competition between exhibitions.
The favourable above-average performance of the public exhibitions throughout Europe was noted with surprise. These were not spared a drop in the number of exhibitors either, usually in the single-digit percentage range, but in some cases attracted appreciably more visitors. “If holidays are cut back, public exhibitions are a welcome change for many people,” says Marc Granier, Deputy CEO of Viparis and Vice President Strategy at EMECA. On the other hand, sectors such as automotive, machinery, electronics and IT suffered above-average losses.
EMECA approves energy efficiency study
The General Assembly in Frankfurt accepted the proposal of the EMECA Technical Working Group and decided to conduct a study on the energy efficiency of new exhibition halls and halls in need of renovation. The new sites are to provide information for the energy-efficient construction of more new halls. The old buildings are to be examined to determine what renovation measures must be adopted to cut energy consumption permanently. “Raising the potential in this area is in the interest of everyone, the customers, the site owners and the environment,” says René Kamm.
About EMECA
The 18 EMECA venues organize some 1,200 exhibitions a year with around 388,000 exhibitors and 43.5 million visitors on a gross rented display area of about 36 million square metres. According to their own estimates, the exhibiting companies generate a turnover of some 800 billion euros through exhibitions. A KMPG study shows that the economic effects initiated by exhibitions at the EMECA venues amount to some 16 billion euros and secure over 360,000 jobs in Europe.
The EMECA Board is headed by President René Kamm (CEO of the MCH Group, formerly Swiss Exhibition). Michael von Zitzewitz (CEO Messe Frankfurt) is Vice President responsible for European Union relations, and Bernd A. Diederichs (CEO NürnbergMesse) acts as Vice President Communication. Marc Granier (Viparis) is Vice President responsible for Strategy, Development and Statutes. Giovanni Mantovani (CEO Fiera Verona) is Vice President Infrastructure and Technical Studies. The EMECA treasurer is Enrique Calomarde (Secretary General Feria Valencia). EMECA has its headquarters in Brussels. The EMECA General Secretary is Jörn Kronenwerth.
The EMECA members:
Belgium:
Brussels Expo
Germany:
Deutsche Messe (Hanover), Messe Frankfurt, NürnbergMesse, Landesmesse Stuttgart
France:
EUREXPO – Centre de Conventions e d’Expositions de Lyon, VIPARIS, Paris
Italy:
BolognaFiere, Fiera Milano, Rimini Fiera, VeronaFiere
The Netherlands:
Royal Dutch Jaarburs Utrecht
Portugal:
Feira Internacional de Lisboa
Switzerland:
MCH Group (Basel, Zurich), Geneva Palexpo
Spain:
Fira de Barcelona, IFEMA – Feria de Madrid, Feria Valencia
Press and media contact:
Peter Ottmann
Member of the Management Board of NürnbergMesse
EMECA Press Spokesman
Messezentrum
90471 Nürnberg
Tel +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-83 15
Fax +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-86 40
pressesprecher@nuernbergmesse.de
www.emeca.com
November 10, 2009
