Fairs canceled, mergers on the rise

Turkey’s fair industry has been hit hard by the global economic crisis. As many exhibits were called off, several companies began to seek foreign partners in order to maintain their existence.The crisis has set the record straight and made the difference meet the eye between the companies with sound structuring and those that are weak, according to sector representatives of the fair industry.The total number of fairs organized last year was 420. As several fairs were canceled due to low participation, that figure may not even be able to reach 360 this year."No country has 160 fair organizing companies," said Turkey Fair Organizers’ Association, or TFYD, Board Chairman Bülent Ünal. "This situation was caused by the strong desire to earn money by dividing a sum. The crisis showed that this was wrong. Many companies began to cut back spending," he said. "This is not a period where it is easy to earn and spend large sums of money. Companies decide whether or not to attend fairs depending on whether or not it will provide a real benefit. That has caused many fairs that have weak infrastructures to be called off," Ünal said.Well-organizedOnly the well-organized fairs managed to continue on their path during the crisis, he said. Participating in fairs has always been very important for the companies, especially in times of crisis, he said. "Many firms chose to participate in fairs with smaller booths in order to be able to maintain their market share and not feel left behind."Fairs provide 250 million euros annually to Turkey’s economy, said Ünal. That is the sole contribution of booth rents, he said, and added that there are also additional benefits provided to local restaurant owners, hotels and even street vendors."Currently all companies are in a waiting mode. That certainly has an impact on fair organizers. Companies that used to rent 500 square meter booths now rent only 300 square meters," said Hacer Aydın, director of Ekin Fuarcılık. "We organize two fairs a year. One of them is a tourism industry fair. That was the first to be cancelled. We postponed it to the beginning of next year," he said.Company mergers seem to become more attractive in times of crisis, according to Aydın. "We have signed a merger deal with ITE Group, a global giant in fair organizations. That has certainly given us the upper hand in the market. We know other companies are also looking into possible partnerships.""Some 40 percent of all fairs, which were planned for this year, have been cancelled," said Erhan Demirci, board chairman of Grup Medya Fuarcılık. "We organize six fairs a year. We cave called off our crafts, Mother’s Day and Gurmeks fairs. We were expecting to obtain $3 million in turnover from just these three fairs," he said. "It would have been risky to organize fairs in times of crisis and local elections. The turnovers of the fairs organized have also been declining," Demirci said."Our fairs have not been hit much by the crisis," said Mustafa Çalık, board chairman of antalya Fair Management and Investment, or Anfaş. "Fair organizations in antalya are mostly agriculture and tourism related and these industries have been less damaged by the crisis. However, of course the automotive fair and the furniture fair have been postponed. I believe professional fair organizers will continue their growth in this period," he said.