European Trade Promotion Organisations’ Association COVID-19 Survey on Crisis Management and Recovery Strategies

In March 2020, ETPOA – the European Trade Promotion Organisations' Association conducted a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on exhibitions participations and on crisis management and recovery measures by European Trade Promotion Organisations (TPOs). In total, 28 organisations responded, including 21 national TPOs from Member States.
Exhibitions play an important role in foreign trade promotion, as most respondents organise pavilions for companies to join. All ETPOA survey participants planned a total of 1.283 pavilions in exhibitions in 2020.

At the time of the survey, 255 were cancelled and 307 were postponed and affected around 9.000 European companies, mostly SMEs. This number has increased since.

The survey demonstrates that TPOs had to switch to teleworking in order to continue to provide services to their SME clients and adapt their services by moving towards digitalisation and the use of AI in order to support SMEs.

More particularly:

• Increase the use of tools, such as webinars and virtual B2B events
• Move services online, such as digital business matching tools
• Create COVID-19-related webpages, helplines and chatbot services
• Start communication campaigns on provided support
• Offer reduced prices or free access to otherwise paid services
• Extend new or increased grants or expedite payment of grants
• Provide e-commerce training
• Assist producers and importers of COVID-19-related products
• Strengthen tailor-made support to SMEs
• Use multiple sources for data collection and analysis

During the recovery period, they will continue to build on new initiatives taken, based on consultations of exporters' needs. Many indicate to favour more actions in key markets and to rethink their exhibition participation strategy. Understanding newly emerging value chains is important.
All ETPOA survey respondents wish to work together on a European level to devise recovery measures and solutions, besides national and regional ones.

The full survey results.