The impact of recession

BSG Principal Paul Woodward is quoted today in Telecom Asia piece about the impact of the economic slowdown on conferences and other business events:

Paul Woodward, Asia-Pacific manager of exhibitions industry group UFI, said economic downturns usually hit smaller and niche events the hardest.

“What we normally see during a crisis is that big, major events hold up reasonably well. That applies across most sectors,” he said.

“People tend to pull their marketing and travel budgets from smaller events that are a bit more marginal.”

He said events in Asian consumer businesses, such as toys and consumer electronics, looked to be feeling the biggest impact of the recession.