In search of the right position
The subcontinent is developing at breakneck speed, and the range of trade fairs is growing in line with this, becoming more varied and competitive. India looks set to become a highly interesting region for the exhibition industry.
The opportunities are there for the taking. Even though India's exhibition landscape is not yet very well structured and most of the few exhibition sites that do exist are too small or technically inadequate, in May Deutsche Messe AG, Hanover, seized the chance in Bangalore and signed a cooperation agreement on marketing the new exhibition centre. Bangalore sets about positioning itself as the hub of the IT sector and mechanical engineering in India.
The Indian association IMTMA, which stages the biggest event in India with its eponymous exhibition, is building the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) for completion by January 2007. Exhibition space will total 40,000 m2 in three (air-conditioned) halls, added to which is a conference and training classrooms. Its purpose-built design promises international standard, whereas most other trade fair venues have some catching up to do. Deutsche Messe will be exclusively responsible for international marketing of the new site in Bangalore, also organising fairs there itself. Operating a venue jointly with other German exhibition companies, as in China, is something the Hanoverians India specialist Eberhard Roloff could therefore no longer imagine. But he adds: "Of course other international exhibition organisers will have the chance to stage theme-protected fairs on India's most state of the art exhibition grounds." The first proprietary events will premiere next autumn. From November 27 to 30, 2007 Industrial Automation INDIA is scheduled, Energy INDIA, Motion, Drive & Automation INDIA (MDA INDIA), and CeMAT INDIA.
Deutsche Messe's German colleagues have been active on the subcontinent for quite some time - foremost among them Munich-based IMAG (Internationaler Messe- und Ausstellungsdienst), a Messe München subsidiary that has operated there since 1955 and, for some years, has also implemented themes for the Indian exhibition market from its parent company's core competences in the field of capital goods and new technologies. That the Indian exhibition sector is currently remarkable for its very special dynamic is something also observed by Messe Düsseldorf, which has been present there since the 1970s. "More and more organisers are crowding in to find their position," says Werner Dornscheidt, CEO of the Düsseldorf exhibition company. Besides realising a host of projects in the last few years between New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Calcutta, Düsseldorf has made an additional commitment: Hyderabad, featuring 10,500 m2 of air-conditioned hall space and around 33,000 m2 of outdoor space is, in Dornscheidt's opinion, a "first-rate" exhibition venue - after all, the people from Düsseldorf helped with the planning and construction, and it's there that they stage most of their shows.
Mumbai has proved a successful location for Koelnmesse. "We do very well with the food shows we stage there," says Wolfgang Kranz, Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse. The company has also scored its opening points with the themes home design, interior decoration and textiles.
Messe Frankfurt launched a subsidiary in India eight years ago in Mumbai. At present it successfully stages two fairs there. Heimtextil India, India International Trade Fair for Home Textiles & Accessories, Mumbai, debuted 2000 in New Delhi and is now located at Mumbai. This year Texworld India, International Trade Fair for Apparel Fabrics & Accessories, Mumbai, took place in tandem with Heimtextil India for the first time. And with India increasingly emerging as the world's foremost technology centre, Messe Frankfurt is enlarging its portfolio on the subcontinent. Next year it will implement another brand there with Techtextil India, to be held from October 10 to 12 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre.
m+a report Nr.8 / 2006 vom 08.12.2006
m+a report vom 8. Dezember 2006