Specialist
Former executive at Comexposium
Agenda
- Revenue recovery outlook in 2021-23 by sector, highlighting risks from a cluttered H2 2021 events calendar
- Short-term cancellations and postponement risks, including impact on refunds
- Digital sector revenue generation scope
- Changes to payment terms with exhibitors and venues, plus booking cycle changes
Questions
1.
What is your outlook for the H2 2021 events calendar, breaking this down by region or sector? We’ve had your take on this over the course of a few Interviews [see Comexposium – H2 2020 Exhibition Calendar & 2021 Outlook – 17 August 2020 and Global Exhibitions Update – Coronavirus Impact – 6 April 2020], and things seem not to have changed materially since 2020.
2.
What are the revenue-generation implications of your outlook? It’s quite dynamic given how different countries will open up at different times. Could you compare the prospective revenue-generation opportunity in 2021 to 2019’s, based on the scenario you laid out?
3.
How could Comexposium’s revenue-generation opportunity in 2021 differ from 2019’s, assuming there will be some shows in June and July in the US, a potential start in Europe in September or October and given that there’s already some activity in China, APAC and Australasia?
4.
To what extent will capacity limits be a factor for walled exhibitions when they restart in Europe and the US?
5.
How stuffed is the H2 2021 events pipeline?
6.
Could there be potential cannibalisation if there are multiple events taking place at the same time, and exhibitors or visitors have to choose between venues?
7.
What are your expectations for walled-in vs outdoor exhibitions? Do you predict more outdoor exhibitions in light of coronavirus?
8.
How much pent-up demand do you think there is across exhibitors and visitors?
9.
How reliant is Comexposium on international vs domestic exhibitors and visitors? This could give us a good sense of how the exhibitions might fare once they reopen, depending on the travel restrictions that are in place.
10.
To what extent can Comexposium run an event with intra-European travel and still break even, so excluding long-haul?
11.
We’re hearing that there’s a stuffed calendar in H2 2021, which you support. To what extent can we consider these exhibitions to be new bookings, where Comexposium generates decent cash flow from deposits? How many of these events will be exhibitors re-booking, meaning the deposits are rolled over from 2020 and there’s limited cash generation?
12.
What changes are you expecting in the 2021 booking cycle vs the pre-coronavirus or 2019 booking cycle?
13.
Do you believe exhibitor cash is flowing into Comexposium for 2022? Is there any anecdotal insight you can share?
14.
What changes could occur to terms and conditions for the 2022 and 2023 calendars?
15.
How could changes to exhibitors’ terms and conditions be counterbalanced by changes to venues’ terms and conditions, so Comexposium seeking additional assurances from venues in the event of cancellations?
16.
What are your thoughts on refund risk and how deposits might be handled given the potential two-year postponements? You mentioned that there’s no real pressure on how deposits will roll over. Do you have any likely scenarios?
17.
How resilient could Comexposium be in the event of further lockdowns in Europe in the autumn and winter months, if there is a coronavirus resurgence?
18.
How do you assess Comexposium’s post-pandemic margins, given you said the company has been relatively successful at removing costs? Are these permanent reductions? If so, could there be more positive EBITDA margins when events restart?
19.
What is a realistic revenue-generation scope for online exhibitions in the short and medium term? I know you believe this is a complementary rather than replacement revenue stream for physical exhibitions revenue.
