Problems existing in convention and exhibition industry

Exhibition economy has a history of more than 200 years in the west. Today, Geneva, Hanover, Munich, Chicago, new york, Paris, Milan, London, Singapore and Hongkong are all world-famous "exhibition cities". China's convention and exhibition economy has gradually developed since the reform and opening up, and it is a new economic model that has risen rapidly in recent years. The so-called exhibition economy, that is, by holding large-scale conferences and exhibitions, brings a steady stream of business flow, logistics, people flow, capital flow and information flow, directly promotes the development of commerce and tourism, constantly creates business opportunities, attracts investment, and then drives the development of other industries, forming an economic group with exhibition activities as the core. In China, convention and exhibition industry is called "sunrise industry" and "smokeless industry", and it is called three new economic industries by economists together with tourism and real estate. At present, the convention and exhibition industry in China has become a new economic growth point and an important part of the tertiary industry in China. Its number and scale are increasing at an average annual rate of 20%.

First, the positive role of the exhibition economy

The development of convention and exhibition economy is a sign of the maturity and perfection of the tertiary industry, a booster for the development of modern cities and regional economies, and has many positive effects:

(1) Strong economic linkage. Convention and exhibition industry not only has a huge market, but also plays a very powerful role in promoting the development of national and regional economic sectors such as service industry, tourism, catering industry, communication industry, accommodation industry, advertising industry and transportation industry. According to experts' calculation, the international industry driving coefficient of convention and exhibition industry is about 1: 9, which means that the profit of holding the exhibition itself can reach 10%, but the profit of driving the development of related industries can reach 90%. The Canton Fair held twice a year promotes the development of the tertiary industry in Guangzhou. During the exhibition, the occupancy rate of hotel merchants in Guangzhou reached over 90%, and 654.38+million foreign businessmen from more than 200 countries and regions gathered in Guangzhou. The daily income of taxis alone surged by about 3 million yuan. Convention and exhibition industry is a labor-intensive industry, which can also provide a large number of employment opportunities for the society. As far as the exhibition itself is concerned, it is estimated that every increase in the exhibition area of 1000 square meters will create nearly 100 jobs. Coupled with the promotion of convention and exhibition industry to other industries, people have increased employment opportunities. For example, 1999, Kunming World Horticultural Exposition promoted the vigorous development of tourism in Yunnan, which in turn led to the employment of 400,000-500,000 people in related industries. According to statistics, Hong Kong's annual convention and exhibition industry can provide about 90,000 jobs for Hong Kong.

(2) Huge direct economic benefits. Convention and exhibition industry is a high-income and high-profit industry. According to the survey of the Commonwealth Exhibition Federation, for exhibitors, the cost of finding customers through general channels is 2 19, while the cost of finding customers through exhibitions is only 25%; For the exhibition organizers, the exhibition profits generally exceed 25%, and some even reach 50%. According to the authoritative figures of international exhibition industry, the output value of international exhibition industry accounts for about 1% of the total GDP of all countries in the world. If the income from other related industries is added, the contribution of convention and exhibition industry to the global economy will reach 8%. At present, the total annual expenditure of international exhibitions in the world exceeds $280 billion, with considerable economic benefits. According to statistics, the United States holds more than 200 commercial exhibitions every year, with an economic benefit of $3.8 billion. In China, according to incomplete statistics, in the past 10 years, China's foreign trade export turnover reached more than 34 billion US dollars through exhibitions, and domestic trade turnover reached more than RMB 12 billion.

(three) to promote the city to improve facilities, improve the visibility of the city.

The development of convention and exhibition industry, especially the international convention and exhibition industry, requires cities to give priority to the development of transportation and hotel services, promote the construction of urban infrastructure and speed up the beautification of the city, thus laying the foundation for the development of convention and exhibition industry. Dalian, originally a heavy industrial city, has built a large number of international-level infrastructure by holding international exhibitions such as "Dalian International Fashion Festival" and "Dalian International Beer Festival", and has gradually become an influential international exhibition city. By holding exhibitions, it can also greatly promote the exchanges between people in various countries and regions, and constantly improve the international visibility and reputation of the host country or city of the exhibition. For example, Paris, France, enjoys the reputation of "International Conference Capital" because it holds more than 300 international exhibitions every year.

Second, the analysis of the present situation of China convention and exhibition economy.

With the good development momentum of China's economy, especially since the late 1990s, China's economy has stood out in the downturn of the world economy, with an annual GDP growth of 7-8%, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of China's convention and exhibition industry. In addition, China's accession to the WTO, the formal implementation of CEPA, the deepening of regional economic cooperation in the Pan-Pearl River Delta, Beijing's successful bid to host the 20 10 World Expo, and the successful conclusion of the first China-ASEAN Expo have all promoted the prosperity of China's exhibition economy. At present, the exhibition economy in China presents the following characteristics:

(A) the rapid development of exhibitions, huge market potential. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 158 exhibition venues in China, with a total indoor exhibition area of 3.22 million square meters and an outdoor exhibition area of 22 1 10,000 square meters. Among them, in recent years, more than 30 new exhibition halls have been built in China, with an exhibition area of 654.38+100000 square meters. Exhibition centers such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian and Chengdu have basically taken shape. At present, the famous exhibitions in China include Canton Fair held twice a year in Guangzhou in spring and autumn, West Expo held in Hangzhou, Shenzhen Hi-Tech Fair, Beijing Science and Technology Fair, Ningbo Fashion Festival, Beijing International Household Appliances Exhibition, China International Industry Fair and Shanghai National (Consumer) Commodities Fair and National Tourism Fair. According to relevant statistics, at present, there are more than 230 enterprises qualified to hold exhibitions in China, and more than 2,000 exhibitions of various types are held every year, with a total exhibition area of1.2000 square meters. Some experts predict that the average annual growth rate of convention and exhibition industry in China will be around 30% in the next few years. By 2005, the direct income of China convention and exhibition industry will exceed 6.5 billion yuan, bringing about 50 billion yuan for other industries; By the time the Shanghai World Expo is held in 20 10, tourism alone will reach 80 billion. It can be seen that the market potential of convention and exhibition economy is very huge.

(2) The emergence of regional convention and exhibition alliance has promoted the formation of five major convention and exhibition urban agglomerations in China. At present, there are five "exhibition city groups" in China, namely, the south, the north, the east, the northeast and the central and western regions. The Southern MICE Urban Agglomeration, namely "Pearl River Delta MICE Urban Agglomeration" represented by Guangzhou, is led by Canton Fair, with Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the south and Dongguan, Shunde, Zhuhai and Zhongshan in the east. With the development of regional economic cooperation in the Pan-Pearl River Delta and the implementation of CEPA, the economic exchanges between Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland are getting closer and closer, and the exhibition cities in the Pearl River Delta have a very broad space and a very promising future. The convention and exhibition urban agglomeration in the north, namely "Beijing-Tianjin convention and exhibition urban agglomeration" with Beijing as the center, will increase with the approach of the 2008 Olympic Games. The East MICE Urban Agglomeration is the "Yangtze River Delta MICE Urban Agglomeration" with Shanghai as the center and Nanjing, Hefei, Suzhou and Nantong as the centers. Ningbo, Wenzhou, Yiwu, Hangzhou and other cities all take Shanghai as the leader and vigorously develop the regional exhibition economy, but the integrated development still needs to be strengthened. Although Shanghai won the right to host the 20 10 World Expo, the overall exhibition industry in the Yangtze River Delta started later than that in the Pearl River Delta, and its operating rules and overall atmosphere were not as good as those in the Pearl River Delta. The northeast convention and exhibition urban agglomeration refers to the convention and exhibition urban agglomeration with Dalian, Changchun, Harbin, Shenyang and Jilin as the main cities, among which the convention and exhibition industry in Dalian has developed particularly rapidly in recent years by holding the International Fashion Festival and the International Beer Festival. The MICE urban agglomeration in the central and western regions refers to the MICE urban agglomeration dominated by western capital cities such as Chengdu, Nanning and Kunming. With the development of western China, the convention and exhibition industry in central and western cities has developed rapidly in recent years. Chengdu California Group invested 2 billion yuan in Tiantangzhai Convention and Holiday Center, which is known as the Davos of the East, and Nanning has the China-ASEAN International Expo. Kunming World Expo has many years of marketing experience and advantages.

(3) The convention and exhibition industry is gradually moving towards internationalization. Canton Fair is the largest platform for China's foreign trade, with the longest history, the largest scale, the most commodities, higher and higher grades and increasing turnover. The turnover of Canton Fair accounts for 1/4 of China's general trade exports and 1/3 of Guangdong's. As the first foreign trade brand in China, it is well-deserved, and it is cosmopolitan to some extent. The 97th Canton Fair (Phase I Exhibition) closed on the afternoon of April 20th. According to the latest statistics, as of April 19, there were 1 17794 buyers from 209 countries and regions, an increase of 2 1.90% over the same period of last year, and an increase of 34.52% over the same period of last year's Spring Fair. Mechanical and electrical products continue to play the leading role. By the end of 18, the turnover of mechanical and electrical products was US$ 5.707 billion, accounting for 53.8% of the total turnover, an increase of 1 1.8% over the previous session.

In addition to the Canton Fair, dozens of international and domestic large-scale conferences such as the World Architects' Congress and the Universal Postal Union Congress held in Beijing, the China International Industry Fair held in Shanghai and the World Expo to be held on 20 10 have promoted the international development of China's convention and exhibition industry. "1 1 The country set up the stage,1700 million people sang operas and 6 billion people cheered!" The first China-ASEAN Expo was held in June last year165438+1October, which is also an important step for China's convention and exhibition industry to go international. During the four-day investment promotion activities, the Expo achieved "Three Supers", that is, 2,506 domestic and foreign exhibitors signed up, exceeding the original plan; 4,423 booths were declared, more than double the existing booths, and 757 booths were used by 10 ASEAN countries and other overseas countries and regions, accounting for 42.9% of the total number of exhibitors; * * * More than 500 enterprises participated in the exhibition, accounting for 33.2% of the total number of participating enterprises, exceeding the expected target. There are more than18,000 exhibitors and buyers at home and abroad, and 19 Fortune 500 companies participated in the exhibition. During the whole Expo, more than 300,000 domestic and foreign tourists were received. Facts have proved that the first China-ASEAN Expo showed many business opportunities. The total trade volume reached 654.38+300 million US dollars, including 826 million US dollars of export, 654.38+230 million US dollars of import and 85 million US dollars of domestic trade. * * * Signed 29 foreign investment projects/KLOC-0, with a total investment of 4.968 billion US dollars. Signed domestic cooperation projects 102, with a total investment of 47.5 billion yuan. The success of the first battle has taken a solid step for China's convention and exhibition industry to go international.

Third, the main problems in China's exhibition economy.

(A) the lack of marketization, policy diversity, lack of unified management institutions. Strictly speaking, in the past, exhibitions in China were planned and hosted by the government, which was an act of the government. The modern exhibition industry in the true sense has only developed in recent years. Government holding exhibitions is a manifestation of the lack of industrialization and marketization of the exhibition industry, which cannot meet the requirements of the development of China's market economy. For many years, the exhibition industry has not been planned and developed as an independent industry, but only as a means to promote economic, trade and scientific and technological development. Therefore, China implements classified management and hierarchical management of the convention and exhibition industry, and the macro-management of the convention and exhibition industry by the state involves foreign trade, domestic trade, science and technology, culture and other departments. , resulting in multi-door, multi-head approval, multi-head management, cross-wrangling phenomenon is serious. The lack of unified, coordinated and efficient management institutions in the convention and exhibition industry often leads directly to the "prosperity of the convention and exhibition industry".

(2) The number of exhibition halls is large, the area is small, the level is low and there are few international brands. Due to the prominent interests of various regions in China and the serious phenomenon of repeated exhibitions, the whole country lacks unified planning and integration. This makes the exhibition hall construction in China not pay attention to quality, and the layout is messy, and the exhibition content and theme are similar. Compared with countries with developed international convention and exhibition industry, there are many pavilions and exhibitions in China, but it is a common phenomenon that the quality is poor, the scale is small and the grade is low. The lack of large-scale, high-grade international exhibitions makes China's exhibitions have fewer international brands and less influence in the international convention and exhibition industry.

(3) The exhibition company is small, the exhibition laws and regulations are not perfect, and the exhibition industry lacks self-discipline. Compared with the number of many exhibition halls, exhibitors, builders, logistics companies and other companies serving the exhibition industry in China are relatively backward. Companies specializing in the exhibition industry are generally small in scale, not competitive, not operating in strict accordance with the laws of the market economy, and have not formed self-discipline in the exhibition industry. The disorderly competition of exhibition enterprises has affected the healthy development of China's exhibition industry.

(D) The lack of high-quality exhibition professionals. The development of modern exhibition industry needs the careful planning and joint efforts of a large number of professional exhibition talents and exhibition companies. However, at present, China lacks high-quality exhibition professionals and exhibition companies, the quality of exhibition personnel is low, and there is a shortage of exhibition planning companies, which makes many exhibitions in China only pay attention to form and not content, and the economic benefits and quality of exhibitions are greatly reduced. At present, in China, most people are both exhibition organizers, exhibition managers and exhibition implementers, and their professional division of labor and cooperation are very backward. Many exhibition organizers have to arrange food, accommodation, transportation, shopping and entertainment for the exhibitors in person, which greatly reduces the organizational efficiency of the exhibition work and affects the efficiency of the exhibition.

Fourthly, the future development of China convention and exhibition economy.

(1) Take the road of marketization, strengthen macro-control and create a good market environment for the healthy development of the convention and exhibition industry. If the exhibition industry wants to take the road of marketization and industrialization, it is necessary to completely change the situation that many main exhibition units rely on government departments to examine and approve tasks and issue subsidies in the past, actively absorb the development experience of foreign exhibition industry, and must go to the market and continue to grow and develop in the market competition. To reform the administrative examination and approval system, the government should change from direct hosting in the past to strengthening macro-control, from economic management function to serving the main body of market exhibitions and creating a good development environment. The government should formulate long-term planning, development strategy and industrial policy, promote fair competition and rational allocation of resources in the exhibition market, pay attention to the establishment of market rules and market supervision, and effectively create a good environment for the development of the exhibition industry.

(2) Establish and improve exhibition laws and regulations, and strengthen industry self-discipline. According to the development status of the convention and exhibition industry, we should promptly formulate relevant laws and regulations, strive to introduce laws and regulations on the convention and exhibition industry as soon as possible in a few years, effectively regulate the convention and exhibition industry with legal systems, strengthen the control and management of non-market behaviors, and create a fair and competitive market environment for the convention and exhibition industry. At the same time, international or regional convention and exhibition associations can be established all over the country, responsible for formulating the articles of association and industry rules of the convention and exhibition industry, supervising unfair competition and fraud in the convention and exhibition industry market, maintaining fair competition and ensuring the healthy development of the convention and exhibition industry market.

(3) Accelerate the construction of exhibition features, build exhibition economic brands, and integrate with international exhibitions as soon as possible. China's convention and exhibition industry must form its own characteristics and build its own brand, which is the key factor for the healthy development of the convention and exhibition industry and the integration with the international convention and exhibition industry as soon as possible. For example, Hong Kong, known as the "Exhibition Capital of Asia", holds nearly 100 exhibitions every year, among which 6 exhibitions are the largest in Asia, and their leather exhibitions are the largest in the world, with distinctive features and obvious brand benefits. To this end, China's convention and exhibition industry should establish brand awareness, create more fine products with scale benefits and international influence like Canton Fair and Science Fair, and speed up the pace of international integration. The convention and exhibition industry should also carry out large-scale publicity and promotion. The government and enterprises should unite to publicize the distinctive image of the exhibition destination through TV, radio, internet, newspapers and other channels, and concentrate on building exhibitions with distinctive brands. Publicity and promotion should also pay attention to the joint promotion of convention and exhibition industry and tourism, closely combine the promotion of convention and exhibition destination with the promotion of local natural ecological scenery and human historical landscape, promote convention and exhibition with tourism, and strive to achieve a win-win situation for convention and exhibition and tourism.

(four) to carry out theoretical research on exhibitions, and constantly strengthen the training of exhibition professionals. In September 2003, the first China Conference and Exhibition Theory Education and Training Seminar was held, which marked the beginning of the development of conference and exhibition theory education in China. The participation of nearly 20 universities in China, nearly 10 exhibition research institutions, 10 media and publishing companies is a "big gathering" for China exhibition theory education circles. To carry out research on exhibition theory and cultivate exhibition professionals, we should do a good job in the professional education of exhibition degree in colleges and universities and the vocational education of exhibition research institutions and exhibition vocational training units, and make continuous breakthroughs in teaching materials, teachers, scientific research achievements, certification training and running schools at home and abroad, so as to cultivate high-quality exhibition talents for China's exhibition industry and promote its rapid and healthy development.