Big Shows, Good; Small Shows, Not So Much

Michael Hart -- Tradeshow Week, 6/24/2008 3:36:00 PM

Big, well-established health care shows are doing just fine, but small to medium-sized shows appear to be suffering as a result of the broader economic slowdown.

That was the gist of the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Assn.'s state-of-the-industry report released by the association's marketing research and communications manager, Frank Skinner, during the HCEA Annual Meeting & Exhibition.

"The economy does not affect the bellwether meetings," Skinner said. "But the smaller ones might not weather the slowdown too well."

According to Skinner's research, all medical meetings experienced a relatively flat attendance growth rate in 2007 of 0.8 percent. However, meetings that traditionally have at least 4,000 attendees grew by 5 percent from 2006 to 2007.

Meanwhile, medium-sized meetings, with 2,000 to 3,999 attendees, saw decreases in attendance of an average 4.4 percent, and smaller meetings, those with fewer than 2,000 attendees, dropped by an average 5 percent.

Skinner speculated that health care professionals, primarily because of escalating travel costs, are being more selective about the meetings they attend, opting for the larger national events rather than the smaller regional or state gatherings.

The HCEA state-of-the-industry report is based on information reported by almost 1,600 meeting annually for the past 11 years.
Skinner also noted that, while the average health care tradeshow floor is growing, the number of exhibiting companies is shrinking.

During the past five years, the average health care show, as tracked by HCEA, has grown 10.4 percent to just fewer than 65,000 net square feet. However, the number of exhibitors has shrunk during the same five-year period 4.3 percent to just under 150 per show.

"It's the exhibit arms race," Skinner said. "There may be fewer exhibitors, but they're all purchasing more space."

The report also revealed that San Diego is winning the race to attract the most health care shows. In 2007, it hosted 88 of them.

"Basically, San Diego hosted a new medical meeting every four days," Skinner said.

Orlando was a close second with 83 meetings, followed by Washington, D.C., with 71, and Chicago, with 63.