First of all, exhibitions can create huge economic and social benefits for the development of cities. Convention and exhibition industry not only provides a bridge and window for Chinese and foreign manufacturers to promote brands, exchange technology, negotiate trade, collect quotations, seek cooperation and expand markets, but also promotes the development of services such as transportation, telecommunications, consulting, hotels, restaurants, cleaning, advertising, printing, decoration and security. According to a joint survey of the exhibition industry in the Commonwealth, the exhibition is a marketing intermediary superior to professional magazines, direct mail, salesman promotion, public relations, newspapers, television and other means. The exhibition area of each session is 1000 square meter, which can create nearly 100 employment opportunities and achieve considerable economic and social benefits, so it has attracted the attention of all countries in the world. According to the survey, in the past three years, the revenue from holding exhibitions in China alone accounted for more than 80% of the revenue from national exhibition venues every year.
Secondly, the development of convention and exhibition industry has brought lasting prosperity to the city. Exhibition is inseparable from the economic activities of enterprises, which determines that exhibition has a strong wealth and welfare effect on cities, industries and residents, and it directly promotes the development of foreign trade, tourism, hotels, transportation and other industries. Exhibition can rapidly enhance the functions of the city, increase income, promote international exchanges and cooperation between exhibition units or cities and exhibition-related fields, promote the development of urban economy, science and technology culture, improve the image of the city and enhance its visibility. Hanover, Munich, Dü sseldorf, Chicago, Paris, London, Milan, China and Singapore are all famous "exhibition cities". These cities support the convention and exhibition industry as a pillar industry and mobilize all departments to promote this cause. They not only built large exhibition halls, but also introduced a series of incentives and preferential policies to attract exhibition organizers and exhibitors. The prosperity of convention and exhibition industry has brought rich profits and urban prosperity.
Thirdly, the convention and exhibition industry shows the most economically dynamic city image for attracting investment and provides the best investment environment for commercial cities. Through the exhibition industry, it is beneficial for enterprises to understand the comprehensive environment of related cities, make correct site selection and investment decisions for exhibition enterprises or other enterprises, and create maximum profits for enterprises. For government decision-makers, it helps to understand their position in the global regional and national urban system, including opportunities and crises, strengths and weaknesses, and also helps to understand competitors. In addition, it is also helpful for decision makers to grasp the key links and factors that affect exhibitions and urban exhibitions, learn from the experience of urban development, and formulate a correct competitive strategy for urban development. According to CEIR's statistics, among all kinds of marketing methods, the turnover of trade fairs is second only to direct sales, 3/4 buyers find new suppliers at trade fairs, and more than14 buyers buy goods at trade fairs. Another statistic of the center shows that in commercial marketing, the cost of commercial sales by participating in exhibitions is only half of that of commercial marketing without exhibition promotion.
Second, the development status of convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta region
First of all, the Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Economic Belt is the fastest growing among the five largest exhibition economic belts in China. Judging from the development of several economic regions in China, the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, represented by Shanghai and other cities, has gathered 6% of China's population and nearly 20% of its GDP, making it one of the most developed regions in China in economy, science and technology and culture. Among them, the overall strength of Shanghai's convention and exhibition economy ranks in the forefront of the country.
Secondly, there are many exhibition enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Economic Belt, and international exhibition giants are optimistic. Exhibition enterprises are the foundation of exhibition industry. There are nearly 1 168 joint ventures in the Yangtze River Delta. These international and domestic exhibition enterprises cover almost all aspects of the exhibition industry chain in the Yangtze River Delta. The Yangtze River Delta region has attracted famous German exhibition companies, such as Hanover, Frankfurt and Munich. Most of the top companies in international exhibition companies 10 come here to "camp".
Third, the Yangtze River Delta exhibition industry development problems
(A) the government is competing for the "cheese" of the exhibition, and there is a serious lack of market players.
The multiplier effect of convention and exhibition industry makes many local governments feel excited. Some local governments, regardless of their own and surrounding environment, are bent on betting on exhibitions. Some local governments subconsciously regard building the exhibition industry as the highlight of the "performance project", and many cities flock to it. For example, in 2002, 90 exhibitions were held in Nanjing, of which nearly 80% were held in the name of the government, and 12.5% were held by various chambers of commerce and associations, while only about 8% were held by companies and society.
(B) lagging industry laws and regulations
The disorderly construction of exhibition halls leads to disorderly competition in the industry, and for a long time, this disorderly competition will become the main style of convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta. Because the exhibition industry mainly serves for commodity trading and sales. The international and domestic markets of most industries in the Yangtze River Delta region have become saturated and entered the stage of surplus economy. As one of the important promotion methods, convention and exhibition industry will be contested by local governments and manufacturers. In this case, the laws and regulations of relevant industries need to be bound. However, from the current situation, the industry laws and regulations that can promote the orderly development of the convention and exhibition industry and standardize the competition of the convention and exhibition industry have been lacking for a long time, and the convention and exhibition industry has become the "bread" enjoyed by the public. In the long run, the development prospect of convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta is worrying.
(C) Cross-regional mergers are difficult.
The exhibition companies in this area are small in scale and quantity. For example, a survey conducted by Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Office shows that the number of exhibition enterprises in Hangzhou has grown from several to more than 100 within three years, and there are about 1 10 exhibitions held every year. Among these enterprises, less than 40 have the ability to organize exhibitions independently, and only 10% have more than 500 exhibition booths. In this case, the merger is imperative. However, under the influence of local protectionism, there are many obstacles to the merger between regions. The market environment of the exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta has not yet formed, especially for some large-scale exhibitions, the traces of government participation or intervention are very obvious, and enterprises, especially private enterprises, are in a weak position in the industry.
(D) The distribution of exhibition halls is inclined to a few cities.
The convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta presents a concentrated trend. From the scale of exhibition halls, the five exhibition halls in Shanghai all exceed 1 10,000 m2, Zhejiang 10 and Jiangsu 1. There are exhibition halls in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Yiwu and South Kyoto, covering an area of over 654.38 million square meters. Among them, the existing exhibition area of Shanghai New International Expo Center is 654.38+250,000 square meters. When completed in 2065,438+00, the total exhibition area will reach 250,000 m2, which will further consolidate Shanghai's leading position in the domestic and East Asian exhibition markets. From the perspective of industrial benefits, Shanghai is a well-deserved "leader" of convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta region. In 2004, more than 260 exhibitions were held in five exhibition halls, including 16 exhibitions with a scale of 50,000 square meters. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo and other cities should not be underestimated. Hangzhou's "West Expo" is famous overseas. In 2002, Nanjing held more than 90 large and medium-sized exhibitions, and Ningbo also held 36 domestic exhibitions and 634 foreign exhibitions, which played an important role in the exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta.
(E) The industrial layout lacks the overall concept.
The layout of the convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta lacks regional integrity and has obvious convergence. The major cities in the Delta have strong economic strength, and they all have the ability to independently invest and construct on a large scale, but the geo-economic relationship has not been paid enough attention. The independent development of convention and exhibition industry in cities has intensified the bad competition of convention and exhibition industry in the region. In 2004, there were 15 fashion exhibitions in the Yangtze River Delta, which were distributed in Shanghai, Ningbo, Yiwu, Wenzhou, Hangzhou and other places, but there were many collisions in time and place. The audience often hesitates about which exhibition to visit, and it is impossible for exhibitors to attend all these exhibitions. As a result, some exhibitions have good themes, but not so many exhibitors are invited to participate, so they have to pull people in casually, which reduces the attraction of the exhibition.
Four. Countermeasures to promote the development of convention and exhibition industry in Yangtze River Delta region
(A) adjust the role of the government to guide the healthy development of the exhibition economy
The government is an indispensable party in the development of convention and exhibition industry. Holding exhibitions really needs the government's leadership, but the government can't do everything. The orientation of the government should be to grasp the "big" and put the "small". Grasping "big" means that the government creates conditions for the overall development strategy, long-term planning and policy orientation of the convention and exhibition industry, plays a macro-guiding role, creates a healthy and orderly market competition environment, and gradually forms a benign development of the convention and exhibition economy pattern. Putting "small" means that the government should choose the right time to withdraw from the exhibition. Only enterprises are the main body of market competition. Local governments will have a certain impact on the exhibition market, which is not conducive to promoting the industrialization, marketization and standardized development of the exhibition industry. No matter at home or abroad, most successful convention and exhibition industries are formed on the basis of creating conditions by the government and attracting investment according to market rules. The idea of holding exhibitions in Dachuan, China and Dalian is that the government should create conditions, improve the environment and concentrate on building exhibition facilities. By optimizing human resources and exhibition facilities, the exhibition centers of the two places have embarked on a virtuous circle of exhibition industry development.
(B) to strengthen the direction of industrialization of the exhibition economy
1. Define urban positioning. At present, it is still too early to realize the integration of convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta. All convention and exhibition cities should fully consider their own positioning in the whole Yangtze River Delta, combine local characteristics and future development positioning, clarify the classification and positioning of the convention and exhibition industry, find a breakthrough in the development of the convention and exhibition industry, maximize the synergistic effect between cities at different levels, foster collaborative competition among cities at the same level, and finally achieve a win-win situation for convention and exhibition cities in the Yangtze River Delta.
2. Reasonably adjust the layout and structure of exhibition venues. Venue construction is a prerequisite for the sustained and stable development of a city's convention and exhibition industry, but it needs long-term planning and scientific design. Considering the local market capacity and regional competitiveness, it is necessary to combine the high starting point and phased construction of venues with the intelligent transformation of existing venues.
3. On the basis of local advantages, strengthen division of labor and dislocation management. Cities in the Yangtze River Delta should rely on their own advantages, take strong industries or local characteristics as the guide, and take a perfect exhibition industry chain as the link to build an interactive development mechanism for regional exhibitions. Coordinate the relationship between convention and exhibition center cities and surrounding small and medium-sized cities to realize the reconstruction of convention and exhibition market resources in the Yangtze River Delta. The central city should focus on developing large-scale international exhibitions, and the surrounding small cities should focus on professional trade exhibitions, seeking to become the "leader" in specific fields and realize misplaced management.
4. Economic benefits need to be improved. In recent years, the construction of exhibition venues in the Yangtze River Delta is increasing at a rate of 20%, and many cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Ningbo are under construction. However, according to international standards, the utilization rate of exhibition halls can reach 60% ~ 70% to achieve the best market benefits. However, except for Shanghai, the utilization rate of other pavilions in the Yangtze River Delta is only 10% ~ 30%, and the economic benefits of a large number of pavilions need to be improved. Nanjing International Exhibition Center, which was founded in 2000, was auctioned in 2003 because its utilization rate was less than 65,438+09% in the following three years. At the same time, the establishment and construction of the new exhibition hall are still under way. Hangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center has been transformed into an automobile city, and a large number of convention and exhibition facilities can't play their due value, which is sad.
5. Encourage mergers and acquisitions to enhance the exhibition brand and international competitiveness of the Yangtze River Delta. In order to accelerate the win-win development of the convention and exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta, it is necessary to vigorously encourage cross-regional enterprise merger activities in the same market. With capital as the link, through strong alliance and complementary advantages, we will build the exhibition industry belt in the Yangtze River Delta and form the overall regional competitiveness. In the exhibition industry, brand is a symbol of credibility. The merger and association of exhibition enterprises can effectively promote the brand association of similar or similar exhibitions, integrate superior management resources, improve the overall management ability, and promote the exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta to the region.
(C) to strengthen the training of exhibition professionals
1. Establish a comprehensive school education system
In recent years, China has started comprehensive education of exhibitions, including degree education, vocational education and on-the-job training. At present, about 20 colleges and universities have started to offer exhibition management majors or similar majors. Schools at all levels must clarify the training goal-compound exhibition talents, so that employees have comprehensive and systematic basic knowledge and professional knowledge. Basic knowledge includes communication, public relations, knowledge, thinking, language, planning, marketing, marketing, management, etiquette, advertising design, service and other knowledge closely related to exhibitions; Professional knowledge includes exhibition planning, exhibition management, exhibition marketing, exhibition management decision-making, exhibition etiquette, exhibition English and other related knowledge. To realize the scientificity and rationalization of the curriculum system and teaching materials, the curriculum structure should be reasonable, that is, specialized courses and related courses should be more important than others, and the theoretical discussion and analysis of teaching materials should be scientific, international and combined with practice. School education must pay attention to integrating theory with practice, establish a strategic cooperative relationship with Industry-University-Research, and improve the theoretical level and practical operation ability of convention and exhibition education in the Yangtze River Delta.
2. Targeted training for exhibition practitioners.
According to the survey conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, 1000% of exhibition companies have the need to train their employees, 77% of senior exhibition managers want to be trained by senior exhibition experts from famous foreign exhibition companies, 68% of exhibition managers want to learn foreign exhibition theory and practice knowledge, and 70% of exhibition managers say they most want to attend short-term training courses in China. In this case, in 2002, the short-term training activities of various exhibitions in the Yangtze River Delta reached 12 times, and the number of participants exceeded 1500. Holding training courses is an effective way to improve the professional knowledge level of employees in the industry at present. For those young people who are interested in the convention and exhibition industry or executives who have lived in a certain position, senior people, experts, university professors and foreign experts who are involved in professional knowledge to give lectures and conduct short-term intensive training, the effect is obvious, which can solve the problems that need to be solved urgently in the industry at present. The content can be a combination of popularizing knowledge and practice, or it can be carried out around professional themes to make your professional knowledge more comprehensive. This should be a good way to improve the overall quality of exhibition employees with quick results, low cost and no influence on the normal activities of enterprises, and should be regarded as a long-term effective strategy for cultivating exhibition talents. Training needs should be well analyzed and targeted. In addition, we should do a good job in effect evaluation, especially the systematic evaluation of the training system.
3. Give full play to the guiding role of the exhibition association.
Convention and exhibition industry is an industry with broad development prospects, and convention and exhibition associations undertake important tasks in this respect. After years of research and practice, IAEM has established a set of systematic and complete professional training plan from 1975, and awarded certain scores to the recipients through classroom study, work practice, catering club activities and examinations. After accumulating a certain number of points, IAEM will issue a qualification certificate called Registered Exhibition Manager (CFM). It usually takes 3 to 5 years to get this certificate. With this certificate, you can prove that you have achieved certain status and honor in the exhibition industry. The association also exported this training method to foreign countries and signed bilateral cooperation agreements with exhibition associations in Canada, Mexico, United Arab Emirates and other countries. These countries can use this teaching material and method to train their own professionals, and the American Exhibition Management Association also issues certificates to those who pass the examination. Therefore, it is a major task of China Convention and Exhibition Association to train exhibition professionals in a planned and hierarchical way. China's convention and exhibition association can also take part in the industry certification examination for convention and exhibition talents, and it is stipulated that corresponding training should be conducted before the examination. The exhibition association may designate some qualified and quality-guaranteed institutions as designated training points. Under the pressure of passing rate, these training institutions will actively consider how to improve the teaching quality, and the exhibition association will issue certificates to students who have completed their studies. The association can also do a good job in industry guidance, regularly organize people in the industry to exchange and learn business and broaden their horizons. The relevant government departments should ensure that the certification work is institutionalized and standardized, take the professional qualifications of employees as an important part of the enterprise qualification examination, effectively ensure the quality of exhibition employees, improve the service quality of the industry, and do a good job in pre-employment training.