The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) has strengthened ties with the international business event community, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). 

UFI ceo Kai Hattendorf and UFI regional manager for Asia/Pacific, Mark Cochrane have been on a three-day mission to Sydney  to support the Australasian business event industry.

Joyce DiMascio, chief executive EEAA said the deal would pave the way for education exchange, research collaboration and the development of young talent between the two organisations.

“This agreement is an important commitment to work in partnership on key areas of industry development and opportunity, giving the Australasian business event community both a greater voice in global affairs and access to UFI’s global network.

 

While he was in Sydney, Hattendorf delivered a ‘State of the Industry’ address to EEAA members.

 

“The speed of change is picking up for the exhibitions and events industry - we will see more change in the next 10 years than we have seen in the past 30 years, even the blurring of ‘traditional’ borders between various types of events,” said Hattendorf.

 

“Five main trends will impact our industry in the coming 12 to 18 months: Growing political uncertainties, the polarisation of global leading shows, continued digitisation, a focus on operational excellence, and, increasingly, evolving business models.

 

“In the next 10 to 15 years, digitisation will take over as the main growth driver - and we expect that to impact our industry's business models.“The exhibition industry has always been very resilient. What makes this industry special is its capacity to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our core customer groups: Buyers and sellers looking to exchange goods, ideas, and contacts.”