April 15 – the Global Day of Exhibitions

The aim of the initiative of the Board of PCEI to establish April 15 as the Global Day of Exhibitions is to draw attention of the international business, general public and the media to the exhibition industry, as well as to honour exhibitors, visitors and companies which operate in the exhibition sector. April 15 is the day of establishing UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry – with its headquarters in Paris, which happened in 1925. The idea of Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry was submitted to UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry – and it was discussed during UFI working forums in 2011-2014. National trade fair associations gathered in UFI Associations’ Committee believe in the necessity to promote the exhibition sector and industry all over the world on behalf of all its participants and stakeholders. UFI Steering Committee and PCEI independently attempted to have UNESCO establish this international sector holiday. Unfortunately the procedures related to such initiatives are long-lasting and complicated and the new rules of submitting such motions limit the chances of success of PCEI initiative. Therefore at the annual UFI Congress in Bogotá in November 2014, national trade fair associations, including Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry and IAEE association from the USA, which in June 2014 organized the Exhibitions Day in Washington, at the meeting of the UFI Associations’ Committee, decided to establish a working group aimed at developing the concept of an event promoting exhibitions as an instrument of marketing for enterprises and a factor influencing the economic development and the growth of regions, which would be possible to organise in many countries around the world. There is a possibility that in the year of the 90th anniversary of UFI, which will be celebrated in November 2015 in Milan, by the decisions of the General Meeting, UFI will establish the Global Day of Exhibitions . Source; Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry, April 2015.