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Exhibition Participation. Is a return on Investment possible?
The UITT 2004 exhibition took place 31 March to 03 April. Now in its second year in the new International Exhibition Centre the exhibition continues to expand.
 As one tours the exhibitions and as a completely independent observer one now starts to hear more and more complaints regarding the high prices of the events, the increasing additional demands on staff and the questionable return on investment.
Naturally we do understand both sides. The organisers have worked hard to establish good events that give the both International and domestic exhibitors a platform from which to sell their offers. There are many high costs involved and the organisers mostly achieve well organised events and high visitor turnout.
However the costs for the Exhibitors continue to rise especially in Moscow where many hotels can increase their dates up to 40% each year. The additional costs for flights, transportation and general expenses mount up and are in addition to the high costs of the events.
One hears more and more people now questioning the effectiveness of the events and weighing the costs against possible receipts.
There is no denying that the Russian speaking markets continue to grow with more Russians than ever travelling to destinations around the world. However how much should a company invest in Exhibition participation?
The continued increases in participation costs have seen a number of companies and organisations combine to increase effectiveness and lower costs. Most noticeably is the Universal Tourism Alliance, now with 9 International members representing 9 countries. "The original members were all pioneers on these markets and all of us had our own stands at the exhibitions. The costs continues to increase and we started talking and quickly created UTA in 2001. It took a great deal of respect and mutual understanding to bring 5 leading companies together on one stand but we soon learnt how to work together. Now with 9 members we have increased our stand size and have a most effective presence at the exhibition" John Debono, President.
"Our members calculate their costs carefully and found that it was necessary to reduce stand space at many events. We have also found that being 9 members, and growing we can organise our own events including Workshops and road-shows. We are then full in control of our costs and can optimise our return on investment" continues Mr. Debono. Details of UTA can be found at www.goUTA.com
There is a general tendency to favour Workshops and specialised events. Theses are generally one day events held in hotels that do no necessitate expensive stand construction costs. The numbers of visitors are obviously lower but the effective of every meeting is much greater. Most successful are the Moscow International Summer and Winter Workshops that have been held in Moscow since 1999. Full details at www.MoscowWorkshop.com
In addition specialised events such as the Golf & Luxury Travel Receptions bring rapid returns due the high level of the exclusive guests invited www.EliteEvents.ru
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