Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

Wikipedia defines a barometer as a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure can forecast short term changes in the weather. Economic barometers have a similar effect on measuring business cycles. History gives us a chance to reflect and an opportunity to realistically set goals for the future. The recently released UFI 9th annual Exhibition Barometer is a good example.

The survey findings are in four major sections: turn-over, operating profit, perception of the economic crisis and most important business issues.

Here are a couple of noteworthy findings.

Twelve months ago nearly 63% of companies polled felt that the current economic downturn would basically be over by the end of 2012. Six months later that number fell to 27% and at the time the report was issued the number bottomed out at 10%. Yet, in spite of a gloomy outlook, 3-5 out of ten companies polled repotted an increase in annual profit.

Another interesting finding was the four most important business issues that will have an immediate impact on the exhibition industry. They were:

State of national/regional economies

Global economic uncertainty

Local/national competition for the exhibition industry

Internal management issues

If you want to read the whole report, visit the UFI website at www.ufi.org and open the link to the 9th Global Exhibition Barometer. Let us know how you interpret these important findings.