UFI President, Author at UFI Blog

UFI President’s Letter: September 2021
UFI President’s Letter: September 2021

UFI President’s Letter: September 2021

Dear colleagues and friends, The summer months are usually a quiet time for many but not at UFI. I’d like to give you an overview of some global projects from our association. We have released two milestone industry reports and continue the organisation of the UFI Global Congress in Rotterdam. In July, UFI has released the latest edition of its flagship Global Barometer research, which takes the pulse of the industry. While the results highlight the strong impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had o [...]

By UFI President| 2021-09-07T14:00:52+00:00 September 7th, 2021|All, Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Middle East – Africa|0 Comments

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan
A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

Dear colleagues and friends, Normally at this time of year, the show season reaches one of the annual peaks around the world. Yet, one year into the COVID pandemic, venues around the world are serving as vaccination centres and emergency hospitals still in many cases, rather than welcoming show attendees. At UFI, we are tracking the recovery of exhibitions and business events. Where shows have taken place, exhibitors and visitors have expressed their satisfaction with attending shows, as well as [...]

By UFI President| 2021-04-07T08:46:06+00:00 April 7th, 2021|All, Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Middle East – Africa|0 Comments

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan
A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

Dear colleagues, dear friends, Beginning of February, UFI released figures stating the impact of COVID-19 on the global exhibition economy in 2020. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the exhibition industry all over the world. However, shows are being organised again in safe and secure environments. Hopefully, with the first rollout of vaccines, we will be able to meet again, face-to-face. As I said before, the global economy is expected to see a significant recovery this year. UFI, on its [...]

By UFI President| 2021-03-03T09:45:22+00:00 March 3rd, 2021|Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Middle East – Africa, UFI News|0 Comments

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan
A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

A message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

Dear colleagues, dear friends, We’re just one month into the new year, so let me wish you all the best for 2021 – and to our colleagues in China, with Chinese New Year just ahead, my best wishes for the Year of the Ox. December and January have been dominated by two COVID-19 developments: the approval and international rollout of the first set of vaccines against the virus, and the emergence of a new, more infectious strain, leading to additional lockdowns and travel restrictions in many parts o [...]

By UFI President| 2021-02-09T10:12:18+00:00 February 3rd, 2021|Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Middle East – Africa, UFI News|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Anbu Varathan
Message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

Message from UFI President Anbu Varathan

As we reach the end of 2020 and enter a New Year with renewed hopes and vigours, I am beginning my journey as the President of UFI, the global association of exhibition industry. I look forward to 2021 as a hallmark year for UFI and tap the opportunities that we can avail and move ahead. Year 2020 has been an unprecedented one for businesses worldwide as COVID-19 forced us to realign our goals. There’s a glimmer of hope with the progress made in developing vaccines. Encouragingly, exhibition ind [...]

By UFI President| 2020-12-03T14:21:47+00:00 December 2nd, 2020|All, Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Exhibition Industry, Middle East – Africa|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – November 2020
Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – November 2020

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – November 2020

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since I accepted the role of President of UFI during the 2019 Congress in Bangkok. And what a year it has been! As I write my final column as President, I marvel at how the industry has come together in a time of crisis and is ensuring that we will come out of this pandemic stronger and better than before. As we entered a new decade, we had no idea what was going to hit our industry. During the CEO Summit in Rome in February, the discussion around [...]

By UFI President| 2020-11-04T08:51:14+00:00 November 3rd, 2020|Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Exhibition Industry, Middle East – Africa, UFI News|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – October 2020
Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – October 2020

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – October 2020

Resilience and People As we enter another month of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s impact on our industry, our businesses and our lifes is still growing. We are all striving within ourselves to be resilient, to plan events in the midst of uncertainty, to “pivot” to other revenue streams and to hang on to the positive news from elsewhere and glimmers of hope that we see around us. While events are reopening in many countries, there is confusion as to the value they bring to an economy in many others. [...]

By UFI President| 2020-10-09T07:07:27+00:00 October 7th, 2020|All, Americas, Asia – Pacific, Europe, Middle East – Africa, UFI News|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – July 2020
Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – July 2020

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – July 2020

Dear colleagues and friends, The Power of collaboration and leadership has become very apparent in our industry during the COVID-19 crisis. The industry has aligned itself around one issue – the safe reopening of events! This has put the focus on the importance of advocacy within and for our industry. Let’s face it: For the most part, many players from our industry saw little need for advocacy in recent years. Business was going well, with economies growing simultaneously around the world. Howev [...]

By UFI President| 2020-07-08T14:59:39+00:00 July 8th, 2020|All, UFI News|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – May 2020
Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – May 2020

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – May 2020

UFI President Mary Larkin Dear colleagues and friends, The value of Pre-Competitive Collaboration is as important as ever and is visible more and more every day in our industry. Even in normal times, we in the exhibition and events industry are unique in how much information we share with each other. In these turbulent times, the collaboration among companies has risen to a new level, which is truly inspirational. Sharing information on best practices on how to reopen the doors to events, from [...]

By UFI President| 2020-05-12T07:20:27+00:00 May 11th, 2020|All|0 Comments

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – April 2020
Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – April 2020

Message from UFI President Mary Larkin – April 2020

UFI President Mary Larkin Dear colleagues and friends, We are all in this together! We have heard that statement many times over the past months as our industry faces the unprecedented challenge posed by COVID-19 and its impact on our events and businesses. Times of crisis are when associations are needed most. Such times call for flexibility, adaptation where needed. Industry associations need to understand the industries they serve and prove the values they promise to bring to their members, [...]

By UFI President| 2020-05-11T15:53:44+00:00 April 8th, 2020|All|1 Comment

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