Systematic organization of various exhibitions and fairs in most countries of the world is an important sector of the economy. The market infrastructure of Russia is also characterized by such a rapidly growing business as exhibition and fair activities. This is facilitated not only by the dynamic development of local markets, investment in the economy, but also by the rapid development of the regions themselves, as it is one of the driving forces for the development of the economy.
The concept of exhibition activities and why it is needed
This activity is aimed at finding the most rational forms of communication between trade and industry, searching for new markets for goods manufactured in the country. Currently, the organization of exhibitions in Russia has a sufficient number of necessary professional resources:
- managerial;
- economic;
- technological;
- technical;
- household;
- advertising;
- informational.
The general issues of development and technology of exhibition activities in Russia have already been sufficiently studied. Currently, the topic of its effectiveness is becoming more relevant.
The reason for this was certain changes in the country's economy: the period when capital was rapidly accumulating was replaced by a period of competition.
The position of the industry in the economic segment of the country today
Now, many representatives of domestic business understand that it is more profitable not to bring them abroad, but to invest in their own economy. Even the essence of competition is changing: manufacturers and distributors are now concerned not so much with the advertising of the product itself, but with the presentation of the benefits that the buyer will receive by choosing a particular brand. That is why the exhibition and fair activities of producing and selling goods organizations and enterprises are aimed at generating demand for the sold object. In this regard, the importance of organizing all kinds of fairs and exhibitions is noted.
These events are designed to familiarize the interested audience with the development of a particular industry and the goods and services it produces and to identify demand for them. Their value is to create a situation of partner communication of the exhibitor with a potential buyer. The more professionally organized the exhibition, the more benefit you can expect from it. It is sad that at present, the Russian exhibition organizers are solving this problem unprofessionally: not taking a progressive approach to their organization and inadequately evaluating the results of this action. Many exhibitors are not aware of the inefficiency of their participation in the fair, because they do not have a mechanism for adequately assessing the organization of the event.
Nevertheless, many steps have already been taken in this direction: the classification of organizational methods has been made, on the basis of which the planning and organization of the measures described is carried out:
- theoretical models, which contain analysis and recommendations, within which the company participates in the exhibition;
- collection of analytical data on the activities of the enterprise during the insertion;
- exhibition activities in general information and the rules of its organization.
Forms of exhibition events
Forms of organizing the activities of exhibitions (fairs) are very extensive and are able to satisfy any requests of participants in market relations. Currently, these services are implemented through the following events: auctions, thematic weeks, exhibitions, symposiums, salons, fairs, conferences, festivals, exchanges, tastings, etc.
Despite the apparent similarity, such events differ among themselves in a number of features:
- target;
- organization order;
- method of participation;
- the composition of the involved participants and interested visitors, etc.
Currently, the activities that are the subject of discussion of this article are represented mainly by fairs and exhibitions held in the form of:
- trade fairs;
- exhibitions of various levels (international, regional, city, etc.);
- specialized showrooms, etc.
Features of Congress Activities
Congress and exhibition activity is an equally powerful advertising toolkit promoting various products and services. In addition, the advantage of this area is considered the possibility of rapid exchange of information. The scope includes the organization of events of various formats and scales. Typically, these are:
- symposia;
- Forums
- workshops;
- congresses;
- Summits
- conferences, etc.
Often this vector of the exhibition and fair business is called "event-driven", which is explained by the tourism component. Congress and exhibition activities have a significant impact on the formation and development of professional business tourism in regional, national and international frameworks. It is important to note that such exhibitions contribute to stimulating visits by two categories of people. The first group includes direct participants in exhibitions who are in search of ways to promote advertising and customers to sell their goods. The second group is people attending exhibitions to familiarize themselves with and further purchase products, enter into long-term cooperation contracts or deliveries.
The basics of exhibition activities in the field of congress tourism represent the basis of state economic development. The task of the industry is to create new and optimize functioning enterprises in all sectors of the economy, as well as attract funds from foreign investors, the arrival of which will become a determining factor in the willingness for further growth in professional business tourism.
The place of museums in the exhibition activities of the country
Modern exhibition activities include in their system another important element of the cultural and educational vector. Changes in the public life of the state at the end of the twentieth century had a negative impact on museum exhibitions, the main task of which was to educate the people, familiarize themselves with the style of fine art and orientate themselves in various genres. The exhibition and exhibition activities of that period almost reached a dead end. Working for more than 20 years in the mode of "one-day" exhibitions, today museums continue to work according to the same scheme.
Active museum and exhibition activities are preserved only in institutions that are ready to boast of the mobility of events. This is what allows commercial and non-commercial participants of the exhibition environment to quickly respond to public requests, introduce research materials into the work of exhibitions and provide them to visitors.
Despite the fact that museum and exhibition activities are almost identical concepts, the economic component of the latter is a higher priority at the state level.
The value of exhibition and fair activities
Far advanced in its development, the Russian economy at the present stage considers exhibition and fair activities not only as a tool for pricing, searching for potential partners, raising capital, but also as a stimulator of production based on large scientific potential, a tool for interaction between regional and international markets.
Organization of exhibition activities implies such an economic space where technologies, services and goods could freely move, innovative business methods could appear. Not only the organization of export-import exchange at the moment is becoming dependent on exhibition and fair activities, without it the economic development of territories within the country is hindered. This happens due to the presence of a significant integration potential in this type of activity, advantages over other types of communications and the ability to compare the country's economy with the world.
Types and differences of exhibition and fair events
The international classification system allows you to divide exhibitions (fairs) according to the following criteria:
- geographical composition of the participants;
- industry (thematic) characteristic;
- economic importance;
- territorial attribute;
- time frame (duration).
This is far from the only way in which exhibition activities are classified, although recognized by the international community. In connection with changes in the European economy, there was a need to streamline the organization of exhibitions based on the territorial attribute in terms of participation of interested persons from a certain number of countries in the event. The following classification is designed to assess the economic value of an event in this area.
- Global exhibition (an event of a certain industry on a global scale; attracts participants from all over the world).
- European Exhibition (event of the European scale; attracts participants from all its countries).
The following structures can carry out this type of activity:
- executive authorities of the federal level and subjects of the federation;
- structures specializing in organizing such events;
- CCI (chambers of commerce and industry);
- both industry and inter-regional associations;
- organization of various forms of ownership, even if this activity is not their main activity.
Self-government, financial stability, and the organization of high-quality work of municipalities with sufficient efficiency are impossible without the development of economic activity.
The organization of exhibition activities is focused on creating such an environment that will promote goods and services not only to domestic but also foreign markets, and will force local entrepreneurs to establish economic and economic relations with foreign partners.
How is the sphere of exhibition activity developing in the world?
The development of activities for organizing fairs (exhibitions) in the world does not stand still, it brings multibillion-dollar revenues to the organizing countries, which makes them constantly compete in this field. A quarter of the contracts are concluded during international events. Exhibition activity, as a business of Asian countries, made a quantum leap forward, overtaking European countries and America, and gaining leadership in this direction. In our country, everything happens so far differently.
In Russia, the development of exhibition activities is undergoing qualitative changes. Gradually, the sphere becomes an independent industry. The number of these events is growing, the requirements for them are increasing, which allows them to take their place in the global niche. This is evidenced by open data from the International Union of Exhibitions and Fairs: in Russia there are about 250 exhibition organizers, 55 of which are members of the International Union; they held more than 1200 exhibitions of various levels. The annual turnover from this type of activity in the country is more than 193 million US dollars and is increasing by more than 30% every year.
Since 1991, the number of events in this direction has been increasing by 17% per year. Everything suggests that this part of the country's economy is developing worthily.
The specifics of exhibition events in Russian regions
Exhibition events in our country are held in many cities, in addition to St. Petersburg and Moscow, although these cities continue to be recognized as international centers for organizing exhibitions.
Some trends in the development of exhibition activities in Russia can be highlighted. Following the example of the world community, the country is moving towards reducing the number of universal exhibitions representing a large number of industries. Each subsequent event becomes more specialized, aimed at the comprehensive coverage of a certain direction of the exhibition activity, the manufacturer of goods or services. An increase in industrial growth entails an increase in the number of exhibitions (fairs) of this subject.
The capital of Russia, Moscow, is still a city where the vast majority (more than a quarter) of such events of the country take place, remains the center of representation of a large number of industries. But the tendency towards an increase in the number of exhibitions (including international) held in regions and cities, where a large number of representatives are interested in the consumption of the presented products of production and services, is increasingly evident.
The fact that exhibition activities are developing rapidly at the present stage is evidenced by the ever-increasing number of exhibitors who present their products at these events. Now their number is approaching half of the total number of participants.
Currently, large-scale construction of exhibition venues is underway in Moscow (primarily for the All-Russian Exhibition Center). Exhibition territories of St. Petersburg are constantly expanding. New centers for organizing exhibitions of various levels in Irkutsk, Samara, Volgograd, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansiysk, Khabarovsk, Sochi and other cities are being updated and built.
