PHL exhibition industry poised for strong recovery

The Philippine exhibition industry is poised for a “strong comeback” this year, according to the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM), a premier exhibition venue in the Philippines.

“The exhibition industry is well on its way to recovery in 2023,” said WTCMM Chairman and CEO Pamela D. Pascual.

In a news statement issued on Wednesday, WTCMM noted that one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic is MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions).

“All booked trade shows and events for two years were temporarily discontinued and this created a huge cloud of uncertainty on when these could be staged in a safe environment,” Pascual said.

But the CEO of the major exhibition venue stressed that the year 2022 showed “optimistic indicators that point to restored market confidence and renewed vigor among stakeholders to go back to the exhibition floor.”

With this, WTCMM said it is expecting its business operations to recover in a “robust” manner with pre-pandemic business coming back “strongly.”

The WTCMM recalled that 2022 was a “good start,” adding that the different types of events that were staged last year helped boost the confidence of stakeholders to resume their plans.

“This is why WTCMM’s utilization level increasingly grew from the first half of the year and accelerated towards the second semester,” WTCMM said.

WTCMM added it anticipates more foreign organizers staging their shows in the country in the coming years. Moreover, with the loosened international borders, it said an increase in foreign exhibitor companies is believed to be once again taking up spaces in locally organized shows. According to the exhibition venue, approximately 30 percent, if not more, of exhibition spaces are taken up by foreign companies in exhibitions held in the country.

“High-powered” industries such as construction, heavy machinery, agriculture, automotive, retail, food, and packaging among others supported by exhibitions and trade events have found a home in WTCMM, the major exhibition venue stated.

Meanwhile, the CEO of WTCMM said the exhibition industry is a “vehicle” to promote domestic and international trade. “When the Philippines hosts local and international exhibitions, the country benefits from increased tourist and trade arrivals which promote a circular economy through increased consumer spending for accommodations, dining, shopping, tours, etc. Increased trade receipts, on the other hand, benefit employment,” the WTCMM statement added.

WTCMM said it will continue to strengthen its leadership role in the exhibition industry in the country, not only by maintaining internationally accepted standards of its facilities and services, but also realize its plan to increase its space inventory by expanding the exhibition halls to address the strong clamor from the local and foreign markets.

“I believe that increasing the space inventory of this globally-renowned brand shall fortify WTCMM’s long-standing position even more as the only exhibition facility of global standards in the Philippines,” Pascual stressed.