International promotion of the trade fairs

Our exhibition centre has hosted the guests for the second time. The debate is devoted to efficient promotion tools of exhibition centres, support for the centre development, a strategy of social media utilisation and budget planning.

CENTREX (International Exhibition Statistics Union) is the organisation recognised by UFI – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. For years CENTREX has dealt with professional audits of trade fair statistics, the promotion of the largest and most dynamic exhibition centres and supervision over their development. It associates the leading exhibition centres from Central – Eastern Europe (Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria). The membership in the organisation is highly recognised among the business insiders as it is both prestigious and important and guarantees that the centre observes high, international standards of organisation.

Among the exhibition organiser from Central – Eastern Europe which were audited by CENTREX in 2009, Kielce centre was ranked third with the respect to the exhibition space lease rate and the number of visitors. In both categories the Poznań International Fair was ranked first, the exhibition centre in Brno came second. In total the CENTREX members organised 269 trade fairs in 2009; the exhibitions were attended by 47 000 exhibitors. The exhibition stands size amounted to about 1,5 million square metres. The events were attended by over 3 million trade fair guests.

According to the research carried out by Poznań University of Economics, Polish market of trade fairs is worth about 1 billion PLN. This is the amount of money Polish trade fair exhibitors and guests spent on the exhibitions. When taking into consideration additional spending on gastronomy, hotels and other services provided in the cities where the exhibition centres are located, the amount reaches 5 billion PLN. The improvement in quality and professionalism among the trade fair organisers and companies as well as the enhancement of service culture in providing services to business clients and a higher diversity of trade fair subject areas were recognised as the most important phenomena of 2010 in the world of trade fairs. It is clearly visible that the exhibition centres in Poland have focused on creation and innovation. Targi Kielce alone held 8 brand new events.