A Century’s meeting with the European Exhibition Industry

From 4-15 March， in order to better understand the development of European exhibition industry and to communicate with world peers， China International Conference and Exhibition Magazine（CICE） hosted its 13th European Exhibition Business Tour. The delegation group was headed by Mr. Zhao Wei， President of New Expo International Media and Operation Director of CICE Magazine， and consisted 10 team members ranging from exhibition venue operator， Chinese exhibition organizer and service suppliers. The group visited five countries including Germany， the Netherlands， France， Belgium， and the UK. The main B2B activities during the trip included： a visit to the world’s largest retail show EuroShop 2017， a meeting with the Hague MICE authorities， and the meetings with two leading UK-based multinational organizers in London.

On 5 March， the group visited EuroShop 2017， which was held every three years and this year drew to Düsseldorf with the best result in its 50-year history： attracting 2，368 exhibitors from 61 nations and over 113，000 visitors （round about 4% increase over the last event） from 138 countries in the 18 exhibition halls extending over 127，000 square meters of net exhibition space.

This year， there was a total of 167 Chinese companies exhibiting on a space of 2，900 square meters. The CICE group visited the booth of SCHENK International Exhibition by invitation. As the only exhibition booth design and build service supplier with Chinese background in the EuroExpo section， the design of SCHENK booth adopted the ancient elegant Chinese style and was particularly attractive among a wide array of colorful designs. Mr. Chen Xi， General Manager of the company， was very excited to meet the CICE group and introduced the participation of his company at EuroShop this year.

At the exhibition， Mr. Zhao Wei also talked with the Frankfur-based exhibition mudia m+a International Tradeshow media on mutual media cooperation of online content exchange and off-line events coverage.

On 8 March， the CICE group arrived in GIA Trade and Exhibition Center in the Hague， the Netherlands. Showing great interest to the group， The Hague government sent several high profile officials to attend the meeting with CICE group， including： Anil Kumar， Managing Policy Advisor to Deputy Mayor Klein； Ronald Koster， Director for Asia， Department of Urban Development Economy； Hans Doets， President of Netherlands Tourist Bureau （VVV）； Nicole Becht， International Association Sales Manager of the Hague Convention Bureau； Roy Fu， Regional Manager Asia， West Holland Foreign Investment Agency； Zhong Shikun， CEO of Jiahe Shengde（The Netherlands） Investment Holdings B.V. ， the operator of GIA Trade and Exhibition Center， and Kurt Wu， Project Manager of Jiahe Shengde.

The Chinese side introduced the business of each delegation member and the Hague side introduced local economic profile and the development of the MICE industry. After the meeting， the delegation also visited GIA Trade and Exhibition Center， which occupies 20，000 square meters space and suits the needs for hosting events of various sizes.

On 13 March， after a short stay in Paris， the CICE group arrived in London， one of the most important political， economic， and cultural hubs in Europe as well as a leading exhibition destination. The group first visited Artexis Easyfairs Group. Mr. Matt Benyon， Managing Director of Easyfairs UK Global， met the group with the Chinese characters welcoming sign and introduced the company’s exhibition organizing and venue operation business all over the globe.

Through Easyfairs， the Artexis Easyfairs Group currently organises more than 200 events in 19 countries including Algeria， Austria， Belgium， China， Denmark， Emirates， Finland， France， Germany， the Netherlands， Switzerland， the United Kingdom and the United States. And through Artexis， it manages 11 events venues in the Benelux and Nordic regions. The Group employs more than 700 people and expects to generate revenues in excess of €169 million for its financial year 2016-2017. Currently， Easyfairs operates two stocexpos in China and is in a good position to further venture into the China market.

On 15 March， the CICE group visited Montgomery， whose history of organizing trade shows dates back to 1895. Montgomery has its own specialist consultancy firm， 15 wholly owned and joint venture companies all over the world， and owns the largest exhibition venue in Africa. Currently， Montgomery runs about sixty trade and consumer shows in over eighteen countries in Europe， Asia， Africa and the Middle East， serving the fields of art， photography and design， homes and building， technology， security， mining and more. Mr. Damion Angus， Managing Director of Montgomery and Mr. Christopher McCuin， Business Development Director of Fresh Montgomery welcomed the group in the office. Anna John of Mayfieldmerger also joined the meeting. With several newly launched hospitality shows in Singapore， Montgomery is looking out for new opportunities in Asia.

In the past ten years， CICE has been organizing business group to many exhibition destinations in the world for Chinese exhibition professionals to gain first-hand knowledge of the development of international exhibition industry and to seek cooperation opportunities. With highly positive feedback from the Chinese and international sides， this session closed successfully and CICE will present yet more visit activities in the future.