Exhibition Industry Continues Upward Climb

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) released on April 13 the CEIR Index Report. The CEIR Index analyzes the 2014 exhibition industry and provides a future outlook for the next three years. In 2014, the Total Index increased by a moderate 1.8 percent for the year as a whole, one percentage point higher than in 2013 and just slightly below the 2.0 percent forecasted growth.

According to CEIR’s President and CEO Brian Casey, CEM, “the best performing sectors in 2014 were the Financial, Legal and Real Estate (FN) and Building, Construction, Home and Repair (HM) sectors, which respectively gained 5.2 percent and 5.1 percent. Alternately, the weakest exhibition sector was Education (ED), where the index declined by 3.0 percent.”

“We are optimistic for the performance of the industry overall this year. Economic and job growth should continue to drive expansion in exhibitions,” said CEIR Economist Allen Shaw, Ph.D., chief economist for Global Economic Consulting Associates, Inc.

The overall CEIR index is forecast to grow at a relatively robust rate of 2.8 percent, a full percentage point higher than the 2014 rate. Over 2016 and 2017, CEIR expects the overall exhibition industry to continue to grow strongly, albeit at a slower pace. The current projection shows growth at 2.4 percent in 2016 and 2.0 percent in 2017. Notably, this performance represents the fastest sustained growth in the history of the CEIR Index. By 2017, the Total index of the overall exhibition industry is expected to reach about 1.0 percent below its previous peak in 2007.

As an objective measure of the annual performance of the exhibition industry, the CEIR Index measures year-over-year changes in four key metrics to determine overall performance: Net Square Feet of Exhibit Space Sold; Professional Attendance; Number of Exhibiting Companies; and Gross Revenue. The CEIR Index provides data on exhibition industry performance across 14 key industry sectors: Business Services; Consumer Goods; Discretionary Consumer Goods and Services; Education; Food; Financial, Legal and Real Estate; Government; Building, Construction, Home and Repair; Industrial/Heavy Machinery and Finished Business Outputs; Communications and Information Technology; Medical and Health Care; Raw Materials and Science; Sporting Goods, Travel and Entertainment; and Transportation.

After its initial release, a forecast update of the Index will be presented at the CEIR Predict conference on September 16–17, 2015, in Chicago, Illinois. Click here for information on how to purchase the complete CEIR Index Report. For more information about contributing to the Index or about the Predict conference, visit www.ceir.org/predict.