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Display space running out for SA industr... Showtime for quick, cheap and effective ... The perfect place for showing of... DTI takes a stand on trade promotio... Industry's members have nothing to hid... |
Display space running out for SA industriesDURING the years of isolation, SA businesses busied themselves with the domestic market and only a soldierly few ventured north in search of markets. Those that succeeded had to brave sanctions and the opprobrium that came with being a member of the world's least loved nation. The quest for export orders was often a cloak-and-dagger affair, camouflaged under a thicket of front companies and false shipping papers. Nothing demonstrates the speed with which trade relations have normalised than the number of foreign exhibitors turning up at local events. The SA International Trade Exhibition, now entering its fifth year, hosted exhibitors from 35 countries in 1993. Last year 56 countries exhibited. The show has doubled in size each year since 1993 as foreign companies seek to expand their local presence. Yet South Africans remain exhibition-shy. At the International Clothing, Textile and Footwear Trade Week in Cape Town last year, 85% of the exhibitors were foreign, and this in an industry pleading for special protection against imports. If South Africans are reluctant to exhibit at local events, their attendance at international fairs is desultory, despite the Department of Trade and Industry's relatively generous export marketing assistance programme, although these incentives are not nearly as generous as those available elsewhere. Estimates vary, but anything between 15% and 30% of European corporate marketing budgets are allocated to exhibitions. The comparable figure in South Africa is between 2,5% and 5%, roughly one-sixth. Germany's triumphant economic resurgence after World War 2 followed a successful bid for export markets in neighbouring European countries and North America. Exhibitions played a vital role in this success. Foreign companies newly arrived in South Africa are using exhibitions as an ice breaker and a quick entry into the local market. These allow them to network with companies in the same trade and establish a wide range of contacts over a few days. Many foreign companies employ teams, backed by experienced marketing personnel, to set up exhibitions all over the world. This has given rise to an "exhibition circuit", on which the same exhibitors pop up in different venues. South Africa may lag Europe in its enthusiasm for exhibitions, but the local industry is nevertheless on a fast growth trajectory. There are now roughly 140 exhibitions in South Africa each year, more than double that of the early 1990s. But such growth comes at a cost - established exhibition organisers complain that the industry's image is being tarnished by unscrupulous operators out to make a quick killing. Several would-be exhibitors are still waiting for refunds from organisers whose shows never opened last year. Then there are those who crowd the market by lifting a successful exhibition concept and running it in competition to the original, often just weeks apart. "This is becoming a problem in the industry," says Sean McCoy, chairman of the Exhibition Association of South Africa. "It confuses the public and to have two weak shows rather than one strong one tarnishes the industry's image. There are too many smaller shows, often in the same trade and bunched too closely together." Last year there were three outdoor adventure exhibitions within weeks of each other and two electrical component exhibitions a fortnight apart. Exsa members try to avoid treading on each other's toes and often co-ordinate exhibition dates to avoid clashes. Many now combine shows to maximise the impact. African Exhibition Services and Upmarket Exhibitions rolled five shows into a single event last year to make it the largest clothing, textiles and footwear exhibition in the country. "This gives the event greater appeal in the trade, establishes a stronger branding and makes each of the shows more financially sustainable," says Deirdre Harte, managing director of African Exhibition Services. The total number of SA exhibitions planned for this year is 140, compared with 113 last year. While there is also growth in total exhibition revenues, the proliferation of shows means this money is spread more thinly. "I think we are going to see a consolidation in the number of shows held every year, as it is doubtful whether the industry can sustain the current number," says McCoy. The exhibition industry is worth more than R400-million a year from the rental of exhibition space and peripheral activities such as stand design and building, but it is worth far more to the broader economy. For every R1 spent on exhibitions, another R8 is spent on hotels, car hire and other ancillary services. This makes it a potentially huge money spinner for host cities and explains why many European and US cities make exhibition space available at low cost.
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