IS VIRTUAL REALITY A SERIOUS RISK FOR THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY?

Driven by key players such as Apple, Facebook or entire industries such as the gaming industry, various technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality are becoming increasingly popular. But how will these technologies affect the exhibition industry and are they a real threat to the industry?

At the UFI Global Congress in November 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Gunnar Heinrich (CEO adventics & Scan2Lead) gave a presentation on “Digital Disruption” together with his colleagues from the Digital Innovation Committee Stephan Forseilles (easyfairs) and Matthias Tesi Baur (MBB-Media). Various controversial and thought-provoking topics were presented to the audience, stimulating a lively debate on the pros and cons of each topic.

During the presentation in Johannesburg, a number of arguments were made that support the thesis of a real threat to the trade fair industry:

1. Exhibitors book less stand space because they can present large exhibits or machines virtually.
2. Some exhibitors will turn their backs on trade fairs completely and only present themselves digitally, because they think their marketing budget is better invested there.
3. Expensive experiments by the organisers will remain without results.
4. Other actors may benefit from the innovation.

On the other hand, there were also many arguments against this thesis, saying that virtual reality is a welcome add-on for event products:

1. Exhibitors will use it anyway – let’s make a business model out of it.
2. It will be an elementary component for our 365 initiatives.
3. If we don’t offer it, we will weaken our trade fair portfolio.

Overall, the majority of participants disagreed that virtual reality will become a threat to the exhibition industry, but possibly a useful addition. People will still want to meet in person. Therefore, it was also discussed that everyone should keep an eye on further developments and continuously review in which way these new technologies can serve the existing business models of the exhibition industry.

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