Exhibition World Issue 3 — 2019 | Page 45

Strategy Steering the growth wheel in India EW hears from Indian Exhibition Industry Association President KV Nagendra Prasad about strong growth and initiatives designed to capitalise on some major opportunities in the country ith the growth graph of the exhibition industry globally showing an upward swing, hopes are running high that the industry is headed for a better future. A recent study, ‘Global Exhibition Market 2018-2023: Rising Demand for Large Event Venues and Emerging Growth Across Various Asian Nations’, released by ResearchAndMarkets.com claims the global market is projected to display robust compound annual growth rate of nearly 5% (4.97%) during 2018-2023. This will be chiefly driven by an increase in digitisation and rising marketing services spending of leading companies across the globe. Citing drivers like the rising demand for large event venues w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk and emerging growth across various Asian nations, the report also indicates the prevalence of digitisation as one of the potent growth drivers. Among the regions, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest rate, mainly driven by an increasing shift in the manufacturing base of leading consumer electronics companies, an increasing focus of international companies and increasing initiatives of governments to boost their domestic industries. Although fragmented in India, the exhibition industry is headed for unprecedented growth with opportunities galore. And, with the Indian government aligning its policies towards economic growth and making it easier to do business and invest, as well as the country’s purchasing power parity (PPP) becoming the third largest in the world, the Indian exhibition industry has a lot to bank on. “The key challenge the industry faces in India is a lack of exhibition space”. Opportunity shines In recent times, there has been an increase in the frequency of both new tradeshows and upcoming events. The growth is also attracting new investors and players from allied industries. The sun also seems to be shining more brightly on the Indian shore, as the country’s exhibition industry is growing fast, now boasting an annual frequency of 800+ major tradeshows with a growth rate of 10% per annum (as per IEIA’s independent study of the Indian exhibition industry in Issue 3 2019 45