Exhibition activity in Russia

The systematic activity of organizing various kinds of exhibitions and fairs in most countries of the world is an important branch of the economy. The market infrastructure of Russia is also characterized by such a rapidly developing business as exhibition and fair activity. This is facilitated not only by the dynamic development of local markets, investment in the economy, but also by the rapid development of the regions themselves, as it is one of the driving forces of economic development.

The concept of exhibition activity and for what it is needed

This activity is aimed at finding the most rational forms of communication between trade and industry, searching for new markets for goods produced in the country. At the moment, the organization of exhibitions in Russia has a sufficient number of necessary professional resources:

• Managerial;
• Economic;
• Technological;
• Technical;
• Economic;
• Advertising;
• Information.

General issues of development and technology of exhibition activities in Russia have already been sufficiently studied. At present, the topic of its effectiveness becomes more relevant. The reason for this was certain changes in the country's economy: the period when capital was rapidly accumulating, was replaced by a period of competition.

The situation of the industry in the economic segment of the country today

Now many representatives of domestic business understand that it is more profitable not to export profits abroad, but to invest in their own economy. Even the essence of competition is changing: producers and distributors are now concerned not so much with the advertising of the product itself as with the representation of the benefits that the buyer will receive by choosing a certain brand. That is why the exhibition and fair activities of the organizations that produce and sell goods and enterprises are aimed at shaping the demand for the sold object. In this connection, the importance of organizing various fairs and exhibitions is also noted.

These events are designed to acquaint the interested audience with the development of a certain industry and the goods and services produced by it and to identify the demand for them. The value of them is to create a situation of partnering the exhibitor with a potential buyer. The more organized the exhibition, the more useful it can be expected. It is sad that at present Russian exhibition organizers solve this task unprofessionally: they do not follow a progressive approach to their organization and inadequately assess the results of this action. Many exhibitors do not know about the ineffectiveness of their participation in the fair, as they do not have a mechanism for an adequate evaluation of the organization of the event.

Still, many steps have already been made in this direction: a classification of organizational methods has been made, on the basis of which the planning and organization of the described activities are carried out:

• Theoretical models, which contain analysis and recommendations, within the framework of which the enterprise participates in the exhibition;
• Collection of analytical data on the activities of the company during the insertion;
• Exhibition activities in general and the rules of its organization.

Forms of holding exhibition events

The forms of organizing the activities of exhibitions (fairs) are very extensive and are able to satisfy any requests of market participants. Currently, these services are realized through the following events: auctions, thematic weeks, exhibitions, symposia, salons, fairs, conferences, festivals, exchanges, tastings, etc.

Despite the seeming similarity, similar events differ among themselves in a number of ways:

• target;
• The order of organization;
• Mode of participation;
• The composition of the involved participants and interested visitors, and so on.

Currently, the activities that are the subject of discussion of this article are mainly represented by fairs and exhibitions held in the form of:

• Trade fairs;
• Exhibitions of various levels (international, regional, urban, etc.);
• Specialized salons-exhibitions, etc.

Features of congress activities

Congress and exhibition activity is no less powerful tool for advertising, promoting various products and services. In addition, the advantage of this area is the ability to quickly exchange information. The scope includes the organization of events of various formats and scales. Typically, this is:

• Symposia;
• Forums;
• Seminars;
• Congresses;
• Summits;
• Conferences, etc.

Often this vector of exhibition business is called "event", which is explained by the tourism component. Congress and exhibition activities have a significant impact on the formation and development of professional and business tourism in regional, national and international frameworks. It is important to note that such exhibitions promote the stimulation of visits by two categories of persons. The first group includes direct participants in exhibitions that are in search of ways to promote advertising and customers to sell their goods. The second group is people attending exhibition events in order to familiarize and further purchase products, conclude long-term contracts for cooperation or supplies.

Basics of exhibition activities in the field of congress tourism represent the basis of state economic development. The task of the industry is to create new and optimize functioning enterprises in all sectors of the economy, as well as attract foreign investors' funds, the arrival of which will become the determining factor of readiness for further growth of professional and business tourism.

Place of museums in the exhibition activities of the country

Modern exhibition activity includes in its system another important element of the cultural and educational vector. Changes in the social life of the state at the end of the twentieth century had a negative impact on museum exhibitions, the main task of which was to educate the people, familiarize themselves with the stylistics of the fine arts and orienteering in various genres. The exhibition and exhibition activities of that period practically came to a standstill. Working for more than 20 years in the mode of "one-day" exhibitions, and today the museums continue to work in the same way.

Active museum and exhibition activities are preserved only in institutions that are ready to boast of the mobility of the events. This is what allows commercial and non-commercial participants of the exposition environment to react promptly to public requests, to introduce scientific research materials into the work of exhibitions and to provide them to visitors.

Despite the fact that museum and exhibition activities are practically identical concepts, the economic component of the latter is more priority at the state level.

Importance of exhibition and fair activities

Far from moving in its development, the economy of Russia at the present stage considers exhibition and fair activity not only as a tool for pricing, searching for potential partners, attracting capital, but also as a stimulant of industries based on a large scientific potential, a tool for interaction between regional and international markets. The organization of exhibition activity implies such an economic space where technologies, services and goods could freely move, innovative methods of doing business appear. Not only the organization of export-import exchange at the moment becomes dependent on exhibition and fair activities, without it the economic development of the territories inside the country is hampered. This is due to the presence in this type of activity of a significant integration potential, advantages over other types of communications and the ability to compare the country's economy with the world.

Types and Differences of Exhibition and Fair Events

The international classification system allows you to divide the exhibitions (fairs) on the following grounds:

• Geographical composition of participants;
• Branch (thematic) attribute;
• Economic importance;
• Territorial feature;
• Time frame (duration).

This is by no means the only way that exhibition activity passes the classification, although recognized by the world community. In connection with the changes in the European economy, there was a need to streamline the organization of exhibitions, drawing on the territorial feature in terms of participation in the event of interested persons from a certain number of countries. The following classification is intended to assess the economic significance of an activity in this area.

1. Global exhibition (event of a certain industry on a global scale, attracts participants from all over the world).
2. European exhibition (event of the scale of Europe, attracts participants from all its countries).

The following structures can carry out this type of activity:

• Bodies of executive power at the federal level and subjects of the federation;
• Structures that specialize in organizing similar events;
• CCI (chambers of commerce and industry);
• Both sectoral and interregional associations;
• Organization of various forms of ownership, even if this activity is not their main.

Sufficient self-government, financial stability, organization of high-quality work of municipalities are impossible without the development of economic activity. The organization of exhibition activities is focused on creating an environment that will promote goods and services not only to domestic but also foreign markets, will force entrepreneurs in the field to establish economic and economic ties with foreign partners.

How does the sphere of exhibition activity in the world develop?

The development of the organization of fairs (exhibitions) in the world does not stand still, it brings multibillion-dollar incomes to the organizing countries, which makes them constantly compete in this field. A quarter of contracts are made during international events. Exhibition activity, like the business of the countries of Asia, has made a qualitative leap forward, overtaking the countries of Europe and America, and gaining priority in this direction. In our country everything happens so far differently.

In Russia, the development of exhibition activities undergoes qualitative changes. Gradually, the sphere becomes an independent branch. The number of these events is increasing, the requirements for them are increasing, which allows them to take their place in the global niche. This is evidenced by the open data of the International Union of Exhibitions and Fairs: in Russia there are about 250 exhibition organizers, 55 of which are members of the International Union; They held more than 1200 exhibitions of various levels. The annual turnover from this type of activity in the country is more than 193 million US dollars and every year it increases by more than 30%. Since 1991, the number of events in this direction has increased by 17% per year. Everything says that this part of the country's economy is developing adequately.

Specificity of holding exhibition events in Russian regions

Exhibition events in our country are held in many cities, in addition to St. Petersburg and Moscow, although these cities continue to be recognized international exhibition centers.

There are some trends in the development of exhibition activities in Russia. Following the example of the world community, the country is on the way to reducing the number of universal exhibitions, representing a large number of industries. Each subsequent event becomes more specialized, focused on comprehensive coverage of a certain area of exhibition activities, the manufacturer of goods or services. The increase in industrial growth entails an increase in the number of exhibitions (fairs) of this subject.

The capital of Russia, Moscow, is still a city where the overwhelming majority (more than a quarter) of similar events of the country take place, remains the center of representation of a large number of industries. But more and more clearly there is a tendency to increase the number of exhibitions (including international ones) held in regions and cities where a large number of representatives are interested in consuming the products of production and services represented.

The fact that the exhibition activity is developing rapidly at the present stage is indicated by the constantly increasing number of exhibitors who present their products at these events. Now their number is approaching half of the total number of participants.

Currently, Moscow is a large construction of exhibition sites (primarily the All-Russian Exhibition Center). Constantly expanding the exhibition area of St. Petersburg. New centers for the organization of exhibitions of various levels in Irkutsk, Samara, Volgograd, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansiysk, Khabarovsk, Sochi and other cities are being renovated and under construction.

Unresolved problems at this stage of the existence of exhibition activities

Unfortunately, grandiose positive changes in exhibition activity occur against a background of a number of problems that are solved slowly and with great difficulty.

1. First of all, it is necessary to note the imperfection of the regulatory and legal framework, which regulates this type of activity in insufficient volume. It is necessary to develop additional standards and relevant documents.
2. Lack of coordination in the planning of these activities: there is no agreement on terms, themes, priority areas, which hampers international cooperation; A weakly expressed national component.
3. There are no statistics of organizations engaged in exhibition activities, which hinders the analysis of their activities and hampers the forecast of development.
4. There is no conceptual approach of public authorities of various levels to this type of activity, despite its significant importance for the development of the country's economy as a whole.
5. The low level of support for certain departments, called for by their coordinated actions, to provide state support to the exhibition activities of Russia.
6. The level of the material and technical base of this type of activity does not meet international standards, and as one of the main shortcomings in this connection is the insufficient number of exhibition spaces on a national scale.
7. Currently, foreign exhibitors are more often able to promote their goods, services and technologies to the Russian market. The Russian goods at international fairs seem insufficiently adequate, so it is necessary to work towards the symmetry of import-export flows.
8. Organizers of a large number of fair projects of similar subjects do not always competently compete with each other, which reduces the popularization of such activities and adversely affects the development of the industry as a whole.
9. The use of unsuitable space for exhibitions (fairs), the lack of transport accessibility, the inability to attract a sufficient number of visitors, that is, undeveloped infrastructure.

Despite the long list of shortcomings, exhibition activities in Russia are doing a lot of work to organize and improve the domestic market, truly in a universally public scale. This is due to the recognition of its political and strategic importance in the development of the country's economy.