Breaking News: Final 2009 CEIR Index Results
DALLAS, 22 March
2010 - The Center for
Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) today announced that the Great
Recession has taken an historic toll on the U.S. exhibition industry.
The CEIR Index report for 2009 reveals an overall industry decline
of 12.5 percent. This decline is four times greater than the largest
previous loss which was 3.1 percent in 2008. All eleven industry sectors
experienced declines in 2009.
The CEIR Index
report for 2008 predicted that the exhibitions and events industry would
not see growth until the second quarter of 2010 and possibly later.
Historically, the industry has shown a resistance to decline and
resiliency in recovery. “The length, depth and reach of this recession
made resistance impossible,” said Douglas L. Ducate, president and CEO
of CEIR. “The concern today is not for what happened in 2008 and 2009
but what the outlook is for the industry over the next several years and
for what organizers can do to strengthen their events.”
Anecdotal information from events held
the first two months of 2010 is encouraging. Since the exhibitions and
events industry for the most part is a trailing indicator, it will take
time and a genuine economic recovery before the industry experiences
sustained growth. Once a genuine economic recovery occurs, if the
industry follows past patterns, the recovery will be swift. Notably, the
industry’s previous decline ended with the second quarter of 2003. By
the end of 2004, the exhibitions and events industry performance had
returned to pre-2000 levels.
Data collected
specifically from the fourth quarter of 2009 reveals that the industry
experienced an overall decline of 8.9 percent when compared to the same
quarter of 2008. Together, these
figures mark the seventh consecutive quarter and second consecutive year
of negative numbers due to The Great Recession.
The Index
data for the fourth quarter of 2009 conveys declines in all four metrics
of measurement. The fourth quarter 2009 metrics are Net Square Feet
(-12.3 percent); Revenue (-13.2 percent); Professional Attendance (-4.1
percent); and Number of Exhibiting Companies (-5.8 percent). The fourth
quarter was an improvement over the first three.
As an objective
measure of the annual performance of the exhibitions and events
industry, The CEIR Index measures year-over-year changes in four
key metrics to determine overall performance. The CEIR Index
provides analysis of industry performance across 11 key industry
sectors: Professional Business Services; Consumer and Retail Trade;
Sports and Entertainment; Food; Government; Building and Construction;
Industrial and Manufacturing; Communications and Information Technology;
Medical and Health Care; Raw Materials and Science; and Transportation.
The complete CEIR Index for 2009 will be released at the Society
of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) CEO Conference in early April.
For more information
on The CEIR Index, contact Douglas L. Ducate, CEM, CMP, president
and CEO of CEIR at
dducate@ceir.org or +1 (469) 574-0686.
About CEIR
CEIR serves to advance the growth, awareness and value of exhibitions
and other face-to-face marketing events by producing and delivering
research-based knowledge tools that enable stakeholder organizations to
enhance their ability to meet current and emerging customer needs,
improve their business performance and strengthen their competitive
position. For additional information, visit
www.ceir.org.
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Contact:
Doug Ducate, CEM, CMP
President and CEO
Center for
Exhibition Industry Research
+1 (469) 574-0686
dducate@ceir.org |
