In a time of declining print revenue, the events industry offers media companies a highly profitable, defensible, Web-resistant platform for growth, says a report by DeSilva + Phillips and
AMR International. Trade shows and conferences are "the stars of old media," says Denzil Rankine, CEO of AMR.
In the events business, global revenue is $100 billion and the dominant player, Reed Exhibitions, holds only 7%. In more good news, the annual global growth rate has been 6.2% since 2003 and is forecast to be a 5.5% (4.2% in the U.S.) through 2011. Unlike the rest of the media world, M&A activity among events-related companies is also expected to be strong.