A battle royal is brewing in the events industry. It doesn’t involve free wi-fi (well a bit actually). It doesn’t involve drayage for our friends in the US (more’s the pity). It doesn’t even involve security and travel bans (serious as those issues are).

At a macro level, the Asian market continues to hold great promise given her rising affluence, reasonable GDP growth and regional collaborations. With all these factors at play, how has our industry leveraged on opportunities in “our backyard” and engaged our community?

Shareholders of exhibitions firm ITE Group(LSE: ITE) have a right to be frustrated with the company's progress. Over the past year shares in the business have gone nowhere and over the previous five years, they have produced a return of minus 24% excluding dividends.

The main take-away of the recent CEO Exhibition Forum in Shanghai was a statement made by our good old friend Paul Woodward: We are living in good economic times!

Audiences discovered the latest industry developments in Asia, especially in Indonesia. It's the opportunity to establish a better partnership for future exhibitions in Indonesia.

Witnessed the signing of the “Agreement on the Establishment of a Joint Working Committee to Promote MICE Industry in Macao SAR”, between the Secretariat for Economy and Finance of Macao SAR Government and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The forum plays a key role on the value of the exhibition industry and on the sustainable growth strategy. It provides deep insights and advice.