Increasingly international Italian trade fairs: globally appealing exhibitions +14%.

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Accelerate the internationalization process of Italian trade fairs, to hook up to the post-Covid recovery of the sector and, above all, to consolidate the role of industrial policy instrument which is proper to the trade fair system. In fact, it is precisely within trade fairs that approximately 50% of the exports of our companies are generated each year, especially the smallest ones, and at the same time the exhibition events are an essential development lever for the territories.

The president of the Association of Italian trade fairs, Maurizio Danese, recalls this when he presents the new trade fair calendar for 2023 prepared by the Conference of the Regions, a year that has finally started at full speed, after two years of difficulty. There are 267 international events scheduled between January and December, as well as 264 national appointments. Aefi records an increase in the number of international and national events compared to 2022: respectively there are 33 more events in the first case (+14%) and 23 in the second (+10%).

The 2023 calendar: the recovery is consolidated

If the estimates of international agencies foresee a return to growth compared to pre-Covid levels only from 2024, this will have to be driven by a strengthening of the internationalization of the Italian exhibition proposal, the driving force of an industry capable of generating an impact on the territories quantifiable in 22.5 billion euros a year, for an added value estimated at 10.6 billion euros (equal to 0.7% of GDP), net of the business generated by companies on the occasion of b2b exhibitions, according to data from a study carried out by Prometeia last June, on behalf of Aefi.

«Fairs represent an irreplaceable link between the global economy and our production system – comments Maurizio Danese -: intercepting and presiding over the key markets for Made in Italy is an essential asset for the development of the sector. This is a strategic choice that the operators have now undertaken, internationalising already existing events and pushing the accelerator on the activities of incoming of foreign buyers and on promotion abroad, together with institutional partners».

Even the small fairs are starting to move in this direction, with important repercussions on the territories, where they attract high-spending business tourists. According to the Prometeia study, trade fairs operate with a multiplier of 2.4: each euro of added value generated directly by the trade fair system (by exhibitors, organizers and visitors) produces an additional 1.4 in the national economy.