UFI turns to Asian industry growth

Global exhibition representative body UFI's Asian office has shown its confidence and faith in the industry by launching its first dedicated seminar in the region. Previously UFI held a rolling global seminar each year, but 2006 will see the very first UFI Open Asia Pacific Seminar conducted at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre (HKCEC) on February 21 and 22. Business Strategies Group principal Paul Woodward, speaking in his role as UFI Asia Pacific Office regional manager, says he is expecting around 100 delegates to the event that has been themed "The key role of visitors and innovative IT solutions for your exhibition business". He adds that while the event is targeting an Asian audience there has been some interest from industry professionals outside the region. Modest ambitions "This is a first-time event so we have kept our ambitions modest. We are hoping to see over 100 people. Two months out from the event we are well on the way to that target so I hope that we meet it," he says. "UFI's most recent events — its summer seminar in Como, Italy and the congress in Moscow both attracted record attendance of 240 and over 400 respectively. We are very encouraged by the support that UFI events are receiving and are hopeful of continuing this tradition with our new Asia/Pacific seminar. "The event is designed with managers in Asia in mind and we expect the vast majority of delegates to come from the region. "However, we already have signed delegates from several west European countries, Russia and the Middle East as well as all over Asia so I think we can expect a pretty international crowd." Global confidence Woodward adds that the fact UFI has gone ahead and opened a regional office in Asia and has invested in launching its first region-specific seminar programme was a sign of the global confidence in the future of the industry. "It is very important that an association like UFI recognises the increasing importance of Asia to the development of the international industry," he says. "That is why UFI's (regional) office was opened in Hong Kong in 2004 and why we are increasingly developing services tailored to the needs of the industry. "UFI has been around for 80 years representing the exhibitions industry. The fastestgrowing part of that industry is Asia so we must be here to do our job. "Our membership has doubled in the region since the beginning of 2004 so the companies, associations and government organisations which comprise the exhibitions industry obviously think that we can play a role in developing their businesses." Membership drive Woodward says UFI will continue its membership drive in the region, particularly in markets such as Japan and India and continue to offer members research reports and other educational opportunities. The keynote speech at the upcoming seminar will be titled "Why are visitors the most important clients of your exhibitions?" and will be presented by London-based global marketing director for Reed Exhibitions, Lynn Mathieson. On the second day of the event, the main session will be presented by Yunya Zhang, general manager of InfoCenter, CIEC Group in Beijing. Zhang's speech will focus on online and on-site innovations in visitor registration, registering and counting visitors before they enter an exhibition to obtain quantitative and qualitative data on them. Zhang will also explain to delegates how one of the biggest exhibition centres in China has equipped its premises with state-of-the-art systems, allowing the centre to compile data on every visitor to its shows