A total of 28,000 companies and some 1.1 million visitors have taken part at events organised by Feria de Madrid
IFEMA’s growing range of international fairs, its strategy abroad and its role as the host of a number of important world events, define the fair organiser’s internationalisation plan
RESULTS REGARDING IFEMA ACTIVITIES
Between January and June 2011, IFEMA’s facilities hosted the staging of more than 400 events, of which 47 were fairs or congresses featuring exhibitions (25 organised by IFEMA itself, 16 staged by private organisers and 6 congresses complemented by exhibitions) and 353 were conventions or events of a diverse nature that took place at Feria de Madrid.
These figures reflect the importance of IFEMA, including the significant levels of business participation generated by its fair activity. In this respect, during the first half of the year, IFEMA brought together more than 8,000 companies, 20,000 represented companies and almost 1.1 million visitors within a net exhibition area measuring more than 446 thousand square metres.
Furthermore, this level of activity, which matches the figures achieved over the two previous years, generated a revenue figure of 60 million euros for IFEMA over the first six months of the year, based on a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of 15.2 million euros.
In this sense, we might highlight the considerable efforts that IFEMA has made in order to maintain the volume of fair activity at its facilities, based on the incorporation of new events and the development of new projects, which means that it has been able to achieve a set of figures comparable to those of the years 2009 and 2010. This effort has been especially necessary in view of the prolonged economic recession that Spain has been obliged to face. Thus, in order to support different sectors of the economy, IFEMA has effectively developed different measures designed to boost participation at its events.
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY
One of the areas in which IFEMA is working to consolidate different channels of growth concerns its international strategy. This policy focuses on strengthening its role as one of the leading organisers of international fairs on the European market. IFEMA also seeks to strengthen its position abroad, both as a host of large trade events and in its capacity as an exporter of fair projects that can be implemented in markets of special interest.
IFEMA’s willingness to progress in this direction, especially within the context of the current economic climate, has led to a significant increase in its two sets of activities: the organisation of fairs and the management of Congresses and Conventions. With regard to the organisation of fairs, its main line of business, IFEMA is the current market leader in Spain. In this respect, in the year 2011, the total number of international fairs (a form of recognition granted in Spain by the Department of Trade and Industry) that Feria de Madrid will be hosting comes to 38 events, among which we might mention ARCO and FITUR, two world-leaders within their respective fields. These figures are complemented by the classification carried out by UFI, the Union of International Fairs, which recognises 31 fairs at IFEMA listed as “UFI Events”, which guarantees their international stature vis-à-vis companies and visitors and recognises IFEMA’s ranking among the leading organisers in Europe.
Exploring New Markets
IFEMA’s internationalisation strategy also focuses on exploring new markets, establishing closer alliances and exporting its fair organisation know-how abroad. In this respect, IFEMA’s alliance with Messe Frankfurt regarding the joint organisation of the automotive parts, equipment and service suppliers fair, Motortec Automechanika Ibérica, already reaped its reward in 2010 with some favourable results and the two parties aim to extend this collaboration to other sectors in the future. At the same time, IFEMA is currently working on various initiatives abroad in order to undertake a series of projects for key sectors of activity, both within the field of consumer goods and with regard to industry and services. In this respect, it has opted for a policy of diversification by focusing on markets as different as those of Asia, the Arab nations, Africa and the Americas.
Both in China and in other countries throughout the region, such as Singapore, IFEMA is working on different projects in collaboration with local operators who specialise in the fair sector. Furthermore, IFEMA is pursuing various projects at an advanced stage of development in India, as well as in the Middle East. For example, in Dubai, the Spanish fair organiser is carrying out a collaboration initiative with the leading fair organiser in the Emirate. Furthermore, in the United States, specifically in Miami, IFEMA is making progress with a collaboration project with the leading local fair organiser and with various different bodies in order to stage a consumer goods fair, one that will help to open up the market for Spanish companies. We might also mention various possible opportunities in Africa and Brazil, projects that are still at the study stage but for which possible collaboration projects are being explored with different European fair organisers already established in these markets.
Large-Scale Congresses and International Events
IFEMA’s international capacity also extends to Conventions and Congresses, in which respect the Spanish trade fair body has become an increasingly prestigious host for large events of international scope.
The latest report produced by ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, relating to the development of the worldwide congress market in 2010, places Spain in third place in the ranking for the third consecutive year, as the host of 451 meetings. In this respect, Spain only ranks behind the United States and Germany. We might highlight the degree of growth that has been witnessed in Madrid, which has risen in the table from thirteenth place in 2009 to sixth place today, based on a total of 114 meetings staged throughout the year 2010.
These figures confirm the important role that Madrid and IFEMA have acquired as venues for large international meetings, with the consequent knock-on effects for the city’s economy. The number of events, congresses and meetings that Feria de Madrid will be hosting in 2011 comes to around 400 in total, which is very much in line with the figure achieved last year, although with a significant difference on this occasion: IFEMA’s growing importance compared to its competitors.
In this respect, we might mention some of the high-category international events that will be taking place at IFEMA’s facilities before the end of the year, such as the following: Aviation Week, the second edition of the fair to take place in Madrid and an event that brings together specialised professionals from the world of air navigation; the EHRA Europace, Cardiology Congress, which will take place at the end of June and is expected to attract more than 5,000 participants; and the star event of the year, SAPPHIRE NOW + SAP TechEd Madrid, one of the grand congresses for the IT industry, which takes place one year in the United States and the next year in Europe, and which on this occasion will bring together 10,000 professionals in Madrid, including business specialists and main clients. This event will occupy most of the exhibition space available at Feria de Madrid.
The Consolidation of Future Projects
Other important projects that have placed their faith in IFEMA include the grand world-wide fair for pharmaceutical ingredients, CPHi, following the success of its editions in 2005 and 2009, both of which took place at Feria de Madrid. This event will be staged in 2012 and is expected to bring together more than 30,000 professionals from the industry from all four corners of the world. This event will occupy 10 of the 12 halls available at the fairground, based on a gross exhibition area measuring 150,000 square metres. In June of the same year, this event will be joined by a worldwide meeting as important as the World Congress on Political Science, which is destined to take place in Madrid, in the same way as IFRAExpo, World Newspaper Week, which will be coming to Madrid for the first time and will conclude the year in October by staging the largest international meeting for the daily press, based on an expected volume of participants consisting of more than 10,000 professionals from 85 different countries.
Furthermore, IFEMA has been chosen in the year 2013 as the venue for European Congress of Rheumatology, EULAR, which is expected to bring together some 15,000 health professionals specialising in this field.
Economic Impact
The latest coup that IFEMA has pulled off, in this case for the year 2014, consists of its having been chosen as the venue for the Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology, ESMO, an event that takes place in even-numbered years and whose staging rotates throughout Europe’s different capitals. This Congress will attract some 16,000 participants to Madrid, in which respect block-bookings have been established in hotels throughout the city for a total of 10,000 rooms over the event’s four-day duration, in which respect the impact on Madrid’s hotel sector will come to between 40,000 and 50,000 overnight stays.
It is precisely IFEMA’s ability to provide a boost for the economy and promote different sectors linked to its activities, such as transport, the hotel trade, the catering trade, the leisure sector, the cultural sector and the shopping sector, that makes the fair organiser such as valuable asset to the city. In this respect, we must not forget that IFEMA’s activities attract a considerable number of visitors to the Madrid, making it the main generator of business tourism throughout the region, based on a figure of more than 3 million visitors a year. In economic terms, this represents an injection of income into the City of Madrid of some 2,000 million euros, which constitutes 1.5% of GDP and entails more than 44,000 jobs within the service sector.
