Tarsus Group has made another acquisition this month and its second recent acquisition in China, with a 65-percent stake of Foshan Huaxia Home Textile Development Co., Ltd. ("Foshan Huaxia") from the Guangdong Home Textile Association and Association Member shareholders.

Foshan Huaxia owns the Home Furnishing Expo (Hometex), the leading biannual home textiles exhibition in China.

The acquisition of 65 percent of Foshun Huaxia was made for an estimated cash consideration of RMB174m (approximately £19.3m and $23.8 million).

By Elizabeth Johnson

A lot of unknowns face the exhibitions and events industry in 2017. Recently, the industry’s leading marketing experts weighed in on how trends and current events will impact the event industry in the coming year.

Kevin Miller, president and chief strategist, Frost Miller

Detroit’s Cobo Center recently completed a $2 million technology upgrade, which included an upgraded Nortel core switch that distributes the WiFi signal and along with several new Nortel edge switches located throughout the center.

“For the visitors that use our WiFi network, these upgrades will be like moving from a one lane highway to a three lane super-speedway,” said Claude Molinari, general manager of SMG/Cobo Center.

System improvements also include upgrading WiFi access points to 802.11ac Aruba APs and increasing the number of APs to 400 throughout the facility.

Gen Con, North America’s largest and longest-running consumer hobby, fantasy, science fiction and adventure gaming convention, has announced it will continue to call Indianapolis home through 2021. 

The one-year extension agreement also allows the show to renew its contract on an annual basis, according to city officials.

U.K.-based Tarsus Group made its second recent major acquisition by scooping up 80 percent of the issued share capital of Connect Meetings, a market-leading U.S. business travel and meetings event organizer headquartered in Atlanta.

Connect Meetings is a provider of trade shows that serve the business travel and meetings sector through a combination of national, regional and vertically focused events that are supplemented by an integrated media offering and additional marketing solutions.

Informa Beijing and Shanghai Zhanye Exhibition Co., Ltd have formed a joint venture, Shanghai Yingye Exhibition Co., Ltd, to launch the World of Concrete Asia, which will showcase a full range of products from the World of Concrete, China Floor Expo (CFE) and China Mortar Expo (CME) brands.

The new partnership will begin from the next edition of CFE/CME fairs on, which will be held Dec. 4-6, 2017, in the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

TSNN and Access Intelligence Research have released the second report in its TSNN Research series: The Exhibit & Sponsorship Sales Best Practices Study: How Leading Convention & Exhibition Producers are Selling More Exhibit Space and Sponsorship Opportunities.

TSNN and Access Intelligence Research have developed this exclusive industry study to help convention and exhibition producers analyze and benchmark their exhibit space and sponsorship sales and marketing strategies.

In its latest trading update, U.K.-based Tarsus Group not only said its remaining events for the year are in line with its expectations and forward bookings for 2017 are strong, but also the company bought PNO Exhibition Investment (Dubai) Ltd.

Company officials added that if exchange rates remain at current levels, particularly the weakness of the pound against the dollar, this will benefit its 2017 results.

With business winding down into the holiday season, companies who provide services to the trade show industry continue to score new contracts before the end of the year.

Event technology company, Core-Apps, has been selected to provide mobile apps for Professional Convention Management Association’s signature events in 2017, including the Convening Leaders and Education Conferences.

Core-apps also will support a mobile app help desk and a tech kiosk at both events.