B2B trade show market size in the U.S. 2012-2024

According to recent calculations, the B2B trade show market in the United States was worth 15.58 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry was estimated to see a sharp decline to 5.6 billion dollars in 2020.

The state of trade shows in corona times

In early 2020, following the Covid-19 outbreak, industries not based on digital presence came to a screeching halt. Both event planners and suppliers were expecting their revenues to decline by 50 to 75 percent as a result of the outbreak and industry professionals cancelling their planned events for the year. Trade show marketers needed to adapt quickly to be able to profit at least slightly that year. And so, B2B marketers immediately went on to replace some of the planned live events with webinars to address clients online. The potential loss of customers was quite high, seeing that a large share of conventions and exhibitions in the U.S. boasted visitor numbers ranging from 200 to 2,500. In order to make the online events as engaging as in-person conventions, B2B marketers employed interactive features, chats, and livestreaming in their webinars. All in all, it remains to be seen what the future of trade shows brings, but analysts are certain that a hybrid solution, consisting of both online and offline event features might be the winning option in the near future.