UFI has released the tenth edition of its annual Report on the Trade Fair Industry in Asia. Net space sold at Asian trade fairs jumped by 6.6% in 2013 to more than 17.3 million net m2. The current research shows that 17.38 million m2 of space was sold by exhibition organisers to their clients in Asia in 2013 – up from 16.31 m2 the year before. Of that total, more than 55% was sold in China – or in terms of net space sold 9.72 million m2. That is almost five times the space sold in Asia’s second largest trade fair market, Japan (1.97 million m2). For the fourth year in a row growth was particularly strong in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore all outperformed the regional average of 6.6%, but the region’s fastest growing market in 2013 was Taiwan where net space sold increased by nearly 14%. Of the larger markets, China posted the fastest growth – 8.0% in 2013. China has not grown that rapidly since 2008. The other large markets grew more modestly last year. India’s market expanded by 5.4%, Hong Kong and Korea by 3.4% and Japan by just 2.3%. Asia’s venue capacity will exceed 7 million m2 by the end of 2014 and the number of venues operating in Asia this year will hit 200 – up from the 100 venues that were in operation in 2004 when the first edition of this report was published. In 2014, China will be home to 106 venues and 4.85 million m2 of gross indoor capacity. That represents almost 70% of total capacity available in the region. Adding to this total, China will soon open three significant new venues – two in 2014 and one in 2015, adding more than 630,000 m2 to the market. The three new venues are located in Zhuhai, Tianjin and Shanghai, where the latter will become Asia’s largest exhibition venue. The National (Shanghai) Center for Exhibition Convention will feature an impressive 403,500 m2 of gross indoor space. This venue is likely to have a transformational effect on the Shanghai market in 2014 and 2015. Paul Woodward, UFI Managing Director, commented: Our reserch reveals that last year, the trade fair industry in Asia grew faster than anytime since 2008 demonstrating once again how dynamic is the Asian market. Woodward continued, UFI is proud to have played a role in supporting that growth as our membership in Asia has increased by a factor of five in the past decade and we anticipate even more growth in the years ahead. UFI Asia/Pacific Regional Manager and BSG Managing Director, Mark Cochrane commented, “The Asia trade fair industry sold more that 17.3 million m2 in 2013. In 2004, that figure was approximately 8 million m2. Last year, more space was sold in China than what was sold in the entire region in 2004.” That remarkable track record of growth looks highly likely to continue with the new mega venue opening in Shanghai this year and additional space becoming available in key high-growth markets such as Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei in the next one to two years. This report provides detailed information on the development of trade fairs and supporting facilities in 15 markets: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The report also includes analysis on actual market performance in 2013 as well as forecasts and commentary on key trends in each market. The research was once again undertaken for UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, by Business Strategies Group (BSG) in Hong Kong. As an added-value service, each UFI member will be entitled to receive a four page executive summary of the research and to purchase the full report at a substantial discount. Source: www.ufi.org