Exhibition

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Copyright 2006 – Biz/ed

The Conference, Exhibition and Event Environment

BTEC National Travel and Tourism



Introduction• Conferences, exhibitions and events are

a very large part of the travel and tourism market.

• Just the UK conference, trade fair and exhibition sectors are thought to be worth more than £10 billion per year.

• It is a high quality, high yield part of the travel and tourism industry.



Value and Benefits• The sector lengthens the high season

for many leisure tourism destinations in UK

• It is a year-round sector• Investment by regions to attract

business from this sector can regenerate areas suffering industrial decline.

• Places battle to host major events – ‘place marketing’



Types of Event

• Product launches

• Awareness-raising events

• Annual conferences

• Trade fairs

• Business meetings

• Corporate hospitality

• Sales exhibitions• Fund-raising

events



Types of Venue• Purpose-built centres (see list in

Activity)• Hotels often have dedicated conference

and business meeting facilities• Academic institutions often host

specialist conferences• Sports venues are increasingly

attractive



Suppliers to the Sector• Conference organisers• Exhibition organisers• Venue-finding agencies• Audio-visual suppliers• Catering companies• IT specialists• Security personnel providers



Buyers in the Sector• Companies seeking venues for

business meetings, events and conferences.

• Associations and trade bodies.• Governmental organisations.• Charities and other not-for-profit

bodies.



Major Trends and Issues• The growing popularity of unusual

venues shows the need for ‘impact’ events.

• Organisations relying more on venue-finding agencies as the sector grows.

• The growth of importance of budget-level facilities.



The FutureOne of the main trends is the growth of video-conferencing as:

• Technology allows ‘real-time’ networking at a distance

• Equipment costs and line charges fall (ISDN etc)

• Organisations become more environmentally-aware



Key QuestionWill technology (the Internet, video-conferencing and conference-calling) ever replace the need for business events, conferences and exhibitions?

Documents

Exhibition