Activity Program
The activities of AEFI for supporting Members move in several directions:
- Promotion
- Communication
- Training
- Studies and research
- Services
- Certification
- Special projects
1. Promotion
The sector is promoted in Italy mainly through the creation of region-wide trade fair formats and enhancing the attractiveness of small and medium-sized events. Significant resources are also dedicated to developing innovative processes and behaviours and to creating new areas other than conventional business-to-business.
International promotion aims at developing new markets. In this area, AEFI contributes using:
- an annual international meeting to draw attention to the sector
- reinforced actions for promoting and developing cooperation agreements with international trade fair organisations to facilitate and stimulate ideas, disseminate proposals at trade fairs and assist Italian operators
- training activities for new business areas in trade fair exhibitions
- Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed with countries and organisations expressing commonality of purposes and mutual interests.
2. Communication
AEFI pays great attention to communications with its various targets using a wide range of tools, including a website, press releases, newsletters, press reviews and social media channels.
3. Training
Educational initiatives have always been key to AEFI’s work: for the competitiveness of the sector, constant updating on the developments of the market and strategies adopted by bodies, districts and exhibition sites in Italy and abroad is essential.
4. Studies and research
Collaborations with Members are used to share information regularly in many field analyses:
- AEFI economic observatory on the trade fair sector
- Top Ten, analysis of the international positioning of Italian trade fairs
- certified statistical data about trade fairs
- data about visitors, exhibitors and surface area of international exhibitions.
5. Services
Legal updates:
- All the latest legal information of interest to members is posted in the reserved area of the AEFI website
- Laws, decrees, circulars and press releases are collected in one up-to-date, easily searchable and always available section.
Activities of the Commissions:
- There are four AEFI Commissions: Legal-Administrative, Technical, Internationalisation and Trade Fair Network
- these are effective forums for discussion which support associates with constantly updated information about the progress of the sector, both national and international, as well as about regulations and changing legislation.
6. Certification
Certification of statistical data is essential to the competitiveness of events internationally, and provides effective instruments to enable exhibitors and visitors to decide which exhibitions to attend. For this reason, AEFI works to:
- promote the certification of member companies through ISFCERT
- urge the regions to support trade fairs in the certification process
- organize communication campaigns in Italy and abroad to support certified events.
7. Special projects
AEFI is an organiser and promoter of Global Exhibitions Day, first held in 2016 (#GED16), and every year since then has worked to ensure the national and international success of the event.
At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to leverage the most topically relevant characteristics of the industry, like its relationship with tourism and sustainability. These are valuable occasions for breathing new life into our dialogue with national institutions about the needs and potential of Italian exhibitions, and to reinforce our bond with local territories.