June 12, 2023 6 minutes reading

ECA criticises US visa delays for exhibitors

International visa delays in the US have remained a hurdle for the exhibitions industry ever since global travel bans were removed.

That’s why the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA) has hit out over the long waiting times for appointments and urged the government for a quick resolution to the issue.

That’s our leading story for the week. You will also read about:

➡️ Hyve Group’s acquisition – the deal has finally gone through.

➡️ IMEX Frankfurt releases participation figures in full.

➡️ Explori’s latest exhibitions report – you will get key insights on what’s going on in the mind of exhibition organisers.

Also download ➡️ our Event Tech Forecast for 2023 and compare notes on how the industry has progressed so far this year.

Read on for your full Week in Events ?

ECA criticises ‘unacceptable visa delays’ for international visitors ✈️

The ECA has called on the US government to solve the challenges faced by international exhibitors in obtaining a visa.

It comes after a House subcommittee hearing on oversight and accountability, but is amid a background of long delays for appointments due to Covid-related disruption.

For instance, first-time applicants from Brazil, India or Mexico may face waiting times for visa interviews which can exceed 400 days.

Vinnie Polito, ECA co-president, said: “More than a year and a half after the international travel bans were lifted, unacceptable visa delays are still preventing us from fully welcoming back many international exhibitors and attendees to US trade shows and conferences.

“This significantly harms our industry’s ability to drive economic growth, support job creation, and empower small businesses nationwide.”

Delays in processing of visitor visas have prevented nearly 6.6 million visitors from travelling to the US, according to a previous report by the US Travel Association.

This has been claimed to have hindered recovery of the US economy and caused potential losses to the tune of $11.6 billion.

Rena Bitter, assistant secretary of state at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, said: “Since the United States re-opened for travel, the State Department has streamlined visa processing and dedicated more resources to reducing wait times, consistent with national security.

“These efforts include surging staff overseas to adjudicate visa applications, working with DHS to exercise interview waiver authorities for low-risk visa applicants and expanding the development and use of IT solutions to take advantage of capacity wherever it exists.”

IMEX Frankfurt reveals a successful show in numbers

A total of 57,700 appointments were held at the latest edition of IMEX Frankfurt, according to new figures.

The organiser published the statistics which reveal a successful outcome for the show in the German city.

IMEX Group partnered with ExpoPlatform for its 2023 show and launched an all-new online platform with enhanced capabilities to drive buyer-exhibitor connections.

Read the full case study here to find out how our event technology helped deliver successful meetings, lead scanning and more.

More figures from the show include:

11,764 participants
2,900 exhibition companies
3,059 hosted buyers
74,221 unique QR scans by exhibitors and buyers
57,700 appointments (individual, group and stand presentations)
12,767 app logins
285,000 conversations
284,000 profile favourites

Hyve acquisition by Providence and Searchlight confirmed ?

Leading exhibition organiser Hyve Group has been acquired by Providence Equity Partners and Searchlight Capital Partners.

Completion of the move is hoped to bolster the organiser’s growth plans for its events and give it the support to drive richer in-person business connections.

Mark Shashoua, CEO of Hyve, said: “We are delighted to embark on this new and exciting chapter in Hyve’s journey with two investors who support our vision and strategy. The acquisition provides Hyve with increased opportunities for growth and evolution and will allow us to deliver ever-more game changing impact for our customers, exhibitors, and partners.”

Andrew Tisdale, senior managing director of Providence Equity Partners, said: “We look forward to leveraging Providence’s knowledge and experience investing in the events industry, as well as our capital resources and partnership with Searchlight, to support Mark and his team in pursuing Hyve’s full growth potential.”

James Redmayne, partner at Searchlight, said: “The company’s incredible transformation in recent years has established it as an industry leader, with a well-balanced portfolio of leading global events, which provide Hyve’s customer communities with the highest quality opportunities to network and trade.

“We look forward to fulfilling our promise of being a supportive shareholder and helping the team deliver on its wide range of compelling organic and acquisitive growth plans.”

The deal comes in the background of Hyve’s five-year transformation and growth program, under which it refocuses away from emerging markets to advanced economies.

Rising inflation could impact event spending in 2023 – report ?

Global inflation and skyrocketing exhibiting costs may affect event spending in 2023, according to a new report.

Research from Explori’s Exhibit Leader Insights Report 2023 found shows continue to be a valued marketing channel for event teams.

However, a number of factors could lead to reduced per-event spend and budget cuts for exhibit-related activities. These include:

Increasing global inflation
Huge cost of exhibits
Absence of data measurement to prove ROI of exhibitions

In fact, the inability to demonstrate ROI to senior leadership was termed the biggest internal challenge after budget issues.

The Exhibit Leader Insights Report 2023 is here?
Brought to you by #Explori, @EXHIBITOR & @ExhibitAdvocacy. Get #eventinsights on the #exhibitionindustry from the exhibit marketers' perspective.
Download the report now:https://t.co/HOqVxIF70l #eventprofs #eventsdata pic.twitter.com/0dlm584cSy
— Explori (@explori) June 8, 2023

Mark Brewster, CEO of Explori, said: “Many of our clients amongst both exhibition organisers and corporate event teams have expressed real concerns over the current inflationary conditions.

“There is little doubt that the demand for ‘in-person’ is high and trade shows have bounced back with a vengeance.

“However, the research identifies a friction between the spiralling costs of exhibit programs and pressures on budgets with the absence of measurement data on the real value exhibitions have on achieving business objectives.”

Other key findings from the report ⤵️

? 94% of respondents said they expect their exhibitions to change in some manner over the next three years.

? 82% of exhibitors planning to host fewer in-person shows mentioned costs as a factor in their decision.

? 61% of exhibitors surveyed said their past experience at a show was a key factor in their decision to exhibit.

The report surveyed 255 exhibit marketers active in organising events for different industries and has been developed in collaboration with Exhibitor Group and the Exhibitor Advocate.

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