Caring for the high quality of exhibitions all over the world, also in the context of the growing demands from the exhibitors and visitors, member associations of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, on many occasions voiced the necessity to work out definitions and standards for exhibition venues. After many months of discussions in the group of exhibition professionals, during the 83rd UFI Congress in Shanghai, the UFI Board of Directors approved the following standards for the exhibition venues in order to implement them in practice in the exhibition industry. Definition of an exhibition venue: “A permanent purpose-built event venue that can host and provide globally recognized standard services to B2B/B2C exhibitions/trade fairs, whether hosting other types of meeting industry events or not.” Hotels, public or sporting arenas, parks, and temporary installations are not considered regular exhibition venues even if they host exhibitions/trade fairs, unless considered and accepted by the UFI Executive Committee UFI has also defined the conditions for exhibition venues interested in the membership in UFI. A venue has to fulfill one of the following two conditions: A: Must host at least one “UFI Approved Event” or B: Must fulfil the criteria described bellow: Capacity and Facilities: Exhibition venue infrastructure should provide at least 5,000 sqm of permanently built, continuously and properly maintained indoor exhibition space, in addition to all appropriate facilities required by the organizers and visitors of trade fairs/exhibitions notably catering, shipment, storage, stand building and meeting facilities. Accessibility: Exhibition venue should be located within 150 km from an IATA international airport. The venue should be reachable by coach/taxi from the nearest urban area, and should have sufficient parking lots. Occupancy: Exhibition venue should reach minimum 20% of annual occupancy rate OR host at least 5 exhibitions in the year prior to application. Communication: Must provide permanent comprehensive online, offline on-site communication services with 1 international language (preferably English) in addition to local language, incl. but not limited to: website, technical information, floor plans and specifications for exhibition facilities, rules and regulations, health safety, security policies, services package for foreign organisers or international departments, promotional materials, on-site information and signage. Source: UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, www.ufi.org