Facing up to tough tasks ahead

By Mark Armsden Challenging times is an often used phrase in the region's convention and exhibition industry due to mass development of new venues, falling delegate numbers due to company-placed travel restrictions and generally uncertain business conditions. On top of that, there is unforeseen demand for security and safety measures. Client demands have become complex and more intricate, placing pressure on organisers and venues alike. Speaking at the recent Convention and Expo Summit 2003 in Hong Kong were Asian Overland Services group managing director Mr Anthony Wong, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre managing director Mr Cliff Wallace and CMP Asia senior vice-president Mr Michael Duck. Mr Wallace told the summit the safety and security issues were adding costs to events that will have a long-term industry impact. Cost challenges "We are facing crucial safety issues in this industry and facing these issues comes at a cost. The economy, safety and security, insurance, impacts on travel are the challenges a venue manager faces today," he said. Mr Wallace said there were a number of other challenges: l Corporate customers are becoming more demanding and with new venues coming online around the region, venues must forge new partnerships with customers and work closer together. l Reduced attendance for events. l There are demands for greater vigilance in terms of safety and the ways and methods of dealing with the cost of vigilance and safety is also challenging for us. l Some venues are being built for show and not function. Mr Wallace said the available space in mainland China to hold events was massive, compared with other major regional centres (see box) but asked whether the region already had an abundance of space for corporate events. "One analyst has put the space available on the mainland that could host an exhibition, convention or meeting at three million square metres," he said. "Are we over-building convention and exhibition venues in this region? "My answer, I guess, would be a yes but that is out of our hands and in the hands of the politicians. "China is growing to be the most dynamic trade fair market. It was relatively unaffected by the detrimental economic situation recently and it also has the most German participation (investment) in development." Mr Duck also gave credence to Mr Wallace's argument when he said that he would like to see more due diligence into whether some new venues are viable. "Venues are being built not because of market feasibility studies, but because a mayor has decided the city needs one, along with a university, a sports stadium and so on," Mr Duck said. Three trends Mr Wong agreed there are new challenges facing organisers. As a professional conference organiser his company had experienced three main new trends since 2001. "The first is the number of one-day meetings is on the rise, whereas in the past these events would run over a longer time frame with different activities," he said. "The second is everyone in my industry is calling themselves a convention or event organiser without necessarily having a high level of expertise or understanding of what the industry is about and that can hurt the industry's image. And the third are safety issues, both health and environmental and these issues have been the most recent to affect us in light of recent events." Mr Wong added there was also much higher demands on facilities and their hardware without company's necessarily wanting to pay extra for the service. "Customers have a much higher demand on venues and their facilities such as software and our clients are more cost conscious these days," Mr Wong added. "Some large associations coming to or travelling within the region are now demanding international auditors view all accounts for major events just so they can see exactly where their dollars are being spent." Dramatic changes Mr Duck, as an exhibition organiser, said the industry had changed "dramatically" since the glory years of expansion leading up to 1997 and was another speaker to highlight safety issues. "Pre-1997, Asian markets were hot and budget predictions year-on-year were doubled, sometimes tripled," he said. "But now there are long-term challenges. Large convention and exhibition organisers have faced many safety challenges. Asia as a region is deemed a lot smaller than it is and any event (to do with safety), no matter how far away from other destinations, is deemed to be close. "There is a perception (in some parts of the world) that it is all happening in one place and we know that not to be the case." This was also a point picked up on by Mr Wong, who said multi-national companies based outside of the region tended to believe country-specific incidents were seen as "region-wide" issues. All three industry leaders added the convention and exhibition industries in the region will remain vibrant and viable as long as professionals in those industries - both venues and organisers - can continue to evolve, change and adapt to the ever changing and challenging business conditions. l