According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), the trade show industry has posted its 14th consecutive quarter of growth, with a year-on-year increase of three percent. The industry is growing modestly, and is expected to continue this growth throughout 2014.
The CEIR Index tracks four key metrics in determining industry performance: Net square feet of exhibit space sold, professional attendance, number of exhibiting companies and gross revenue. The strongest of the four metrics for the fourth quarter of 2013 was professional attendance. CEIR reports that its attendance metric jumped 5.8 percent year-on-year, which is the strongest attendance gain in just over seven years. The only metric to drop was in exhibit space, which posted a 0.5 percent year-on-year decline.
Fourteen key industry sectors are reviewed in creating the CEIR Index, from Business Services and Consumer Goods to Construction and Transportation. The top performing sector was Industrial/Heavy Machinery and Finished Business Inputs (up 6.9 percent) and the lowest performing was Government (down 6.1 percent).
