Uk organisers most prolific on a global scale

Date: 19 March 2013

The Association of Event Organisers Ltd (AEO) has today launched its new UK Organiser International Activity Research, highlighting UK exhibition organisers as the most prolific around the globe.

The research, sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitor Authority (LVCVA), is based on the period of April 2011 – March 2012.

UK organisers were responsible for 1057 events outside the UK in the research period, this compares to a count of 263 overseas trade fairs for German event organisers in 2011 (Source: AUMA).

On average, UK organised overseas events attracted 200 exhibitors, equating to extrapolated exhibitor numbers of over 211,000, compared to circa. 93,000 for German organisers abroad (Source: AUMA).

Overseas events represent a value of circa. £1.87bn to UK organisers. On average, 56% of UK organisers' turnover is attributed to events organised overseas.

93% of those UK organisers currently operating overseas, expected their overseas exhibition turnovers to increase significantly (71%) or slightly (21%) in the next 5 years.

Karim Halwagi, AEO Chief Executive, said; “It is hugely impressive that UK organisers are so far ahead in terms of their international activity, and highlights once again how pioneering the UK is in terms of overseas expansion. We sincerely hope that this immense achievement will be recognised by the UK Government, as it is clear that the UK Exhibition Industry is an enormous contributor to the economy and with further support could play a crucial role in expedited economic recovery.â€'

The AEO plans on conducting this research on a regular basis to ensure that statistics are consistently updated.