Exhibiting at an expo or trade show that is held overseas creates almost as many little logistical wrinkles as it does opportunities for your business. But, that certainly doesn’t mean that you should miss a chance to make inroads in a new market and potentially capture a whole new customer base in a different country. It simply means that you will need to pay particularly close attention to the logistical considerations of travelling and transporting your tradeshow booths when exhibiting internationally.
For those who are familiar with all of the considerations that must be made for business travel, the added requirement of shipping retail displays, managing a trade show staff and working out a schedule for everyone who is helping you exhibit can already be a challenging task. But, when you add international travel into the mix you will need to take into consideration a number of additional factors.
First of all, you will have to procure passports for all of your staff. You will also need to be able to ship your tradeshow booths and other supplies to the country where you are exhibiting and thus pass customs. This will add significant delay in many situations, so it’s best to be very early on this. Alternatively, you may opt to source large parts of your tradeshow booths locally to avoid the hassle and to save money.
Don’t forget about the differences in small things like normal business days and hours, the type of electricity outlets that the country uses (what kind of plugs? Are they 120v or 220v?), and also what rules and regulations apply to transportation, shipping, drayage, hiring set-up help and more.
All of these logistical concerns make it very important to do some initial research on the market and the inclusive cost of having a presence at an international expo. Without this type of research in to the true cost and the expected ROI of your international exhibition, you could end up well in the red just to set up a few simple retail displays in Dubai.
Establishing a presence internationally can open up all kinds of opportunities for a business which is ready to expand its horizons. But, it must be done with care and consideration in order to really reap the potential benefits that are available.