Materials Handling Middle East 2009 is being held from May 31 to June 2 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Most trade show organisers are rising to the challenges of the global economic downturn with optimism and creativity as their tools but some are feeling the pinch.

Mahmut Gazi Bilikozen, senior show manager of the upcoming Materials Handling Middle East 2009, tells Forkliftaction.com News that these are, indeed, difficult times for the industry.

"To convince companies to invest in trade shows in general has become more challenging, with marketing budgets being cut all over the world. However, as a platform to meet your clients face to face, exhibitions still do not have competition as a trade platform in the business world," he says.

Bilikozen adds that the show organiser is happy with the quality and quantity of its exhibitors this year.

"We appreciate all the support we receive from the key players of the industry during these times ... We [have] had to be creative. We ... came up with innovative and exciting activities in order to turn on the industry.

"So far, the response has been great. We will let our visitors do the rest," he says.

Materials Handling Middle East has been running since 2001. This year, it is being held from May 31 to June 2 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Brigitte Mahnken-Brandhorst, spokeswoman for CeMAT organiser Deustche Messe, says she hasn't heard of any trade show for the forklift industry being cancelled. She says the next CeMAT show, CeMAT Asia, actually has 10% more exhibitors than last year.

Pat Monroe from AEM says for all the association's support for trade shows including the ones it manages, "these are certainly challenging times". "We make sure we promote shows with targeted messages that explain the value of participating in shows that AEM is involved in. My understanding is that we are getting good response from exhibitors to participate in the BICES show, which is set for November 2009."

AEM recently extended the CONEXPO Asia brand through its support of the BICES show in India and the Bauma China show.

Forkliftaction.com News reported that Australian event company Exhibitions and Trade Fairs decided not to stage Matex this year (Forkliftaction.com News #410).

"It's been very challenging," says event manager Paul Mathers, adding that many of the larger logistics and supply chain companies are "doing it tough" this year and have not had the funding to take part in the exhibition.

The show may run again in 2010, Mathers says.

Maria Kinsella of Australian Exhibitions and Conferences that is hosting the Queensland Safety Show in June says trade shows are essential for businesses.

"Existing clients who are cutting back on their marketing still need to go out and find new business, and trade shows offer a great way to get new leads," she tells Forkliftaction.com News, adding that the company has not had to cancel any of its shows this year.

"While we have seen a 10-15% decline in exhibitor numbers for some shows, our visitor numbers remain strong," she says.

James Clark from British Industrial Truck Association also hasn't heard of any forklift trade show being scrapped and says that the Birmingham-based IMHX 2010 will be held next year.

Meanwhile, the China Industrial Truck Association (CITA)-sponsored China International Forklifts & Parts Exhibition show at the Shanghai Everbright Centre from July 23-25 has been scrapped.

CITA spokesperson Zhang Jie tells Forkliftaction.com News that the exhibition company Shanghai Chaowei Exhibition Service Co Ltd made a lot of mistakes in last year's show so the CITA board and the China Council for the Promotion of International trade decided to cancel their partnership with the company. "We have not found another exhibition company to work with yet so we decided not to hold the show this year."

Zhang said the decision was announced at CITA's annual meeting in October 2008 and an official announcement is on the CITA website.