Video calls have permanently changed the economics of business meetings. A conversation that once required flights, hotel rooms and several days away from the office can now be handled in an hour. Routine negotiations, presentations and follow-up discussions have moved online with little difficulty. Yet the same transition has not made major exhibitions redundant. If anything, it has clarified why companies still spend money to meet under one roof.
The distinction is practical. A scheduled video call normally connects people who already know why they need to speak. An exhibition creates a much less predictable environment. Buyers can compare suppliers within hours, manufacturers can demonstrate products to different groups, and investors can meet companies that were not originally on their agenda. This concentration of contacts is difficult to reproduce through a calendar filled with separate online meetings.
Large exhibition properties therefore remain a distinct part of commercial real estate even as corporate communication becomes more digital. In Ukraine, businessman Maksym Krippa expanded his investment portfolio in this segment through an established exhibition asset in Kyiv. The deal came at a time when video conferencing had already become routine for international companies, making the continued role of large physical business venues particularly relevant to the wider discussion about how people meet, present products and establish commercial relationships.
The appeal of such properties is closely tied to their function. Unlike a conventional office, an exhibition venue is designed to accommodate changing groups of organisers, exhibitors and visitors rather than the same tenants every working day. Large halls must support different layouts, while technical facilities need to accommodate events ranging from trade fairs and product demonstrations to conferences and professional forums. Their usefulness is therefore determined not only by floor area but also by how effectively the available space can be adapted to different events.
Exhibition space has a different job to do
The International Exhibition Center (IEC) demonstrates the scale involved in this specialised category of real estate. According to information published by the venue, the Kyiv complex covers 73,228 square metres, including 38,681.5 square metres of exhibition space, and consists of four pavilions. The site is used for exhibitions, congresses, conferences, presentations and other large events.
Buildings of this type cannot be assessed in quite the same way as conventional office blocks. Exhibition centres require substantial visitor capacity and infrastructure capable of supporting events that can change considerably in size and format. Their practical value also depends on whether organisers can bring large numbers of participants together efficiently.
For some industries, the physical space itself is part of the business process. Machinery can be demonstrated rather than described. Construction materials can be inspected at close range. Manufacturers can put prototypes in front of potential customers, while suppliers can answer technical questions beside the product itself. These are relatively simple advantages, but they explain why a screen is not an adequate substitute in every sector.
There is another benefit that has little to do with the building itself: time. A large industry exhibition compresses dozens of possible interactions into a few days. A company can meet existing clients in the morning, examine a competitor’s product after lunch and encounter a potential distributor later the same day. Reproducing the same sequence online could require weeks of emails, introductions and scheduled calls.
Business events have recovered alongside digital meetings
The post-pandemic performance of the exhibition industry offers useful context. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, the US business-to-business exhibition sector continued its recovery during 2024. In the fourth quarter, its total index reached 95.6 compared with the corresponding 2019 benchmark, putting performance 4.4% below the pre-pandemic level.
That recovery has taken place while Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other digital communication tools have remained firmly embedded in corporate life. Businesses did not simply return to the communication habits of 2019. Instead, online meetings became permanent while physical events recovered alongside them.
This coexistence makes sense because the two formats solve different problems. A video call is particularly effective when the participants, subject and purpose of a meeting are already defined. Exhibitions are useful when businesses want broader market exposure: several suppliers to compare, new products to inspect or potential partners to discover.
For exhibitors, direct access to customers is another reason to attend. Research into the B2B exhibition sector has continued to identify customer meetings, product launches and entry into new markets among the functions performed by physical events. Digital tools can support each stage — from arranging appointments before an exhibition to maintaining contacts afterwards — without necessarily replacing the event at the centre of the process.
Specialised venues compete on more than square metres
From a property perspective, this changes the way major exhibition venues should be viewed. Their relevance is not determined simply by the amount of floor space they contain. Location, transport connections, technical capabilities, capacity and the ability to accommodate different event formats all influence how useful a venue can be.
That makes exhibition real estate different from assets whose performance is primarily based on tenants occupying the same space for long periods. Event venues repeatedly have to attract organisers and visitors. Their commercial role is closely connected to the activity taking place inside the building.
The model is particularly relevant to industries where products are large, technical or expensive. Construction, property development, manufacturing, logistics, energy and industrial technology all involve decisions that may benefit from seeing equipment, materials or projects presented in person. Real estate exhibitions add another dimension: developers, brokers, investors, lenders and service providers can meet within the same professional setting.
None of this means every business trip remains necessary. Quite the opposite. Digital communication has removed many meetings that did not need to happen face to face, making travel easier to question on cost and productivity grounds. But that also raises expectations for the physical events companies choose to attend.
A successful exhibition now has to offer something more valuable than information that could have been delivered in a PDF or discussed on a video call. It needs density — of people, products, expertise and potential deals. The strongest events give participants access to a market rather than simply access to a conference room.
Zoom has made business communication faster and cheaper. Major exhibitions survive for a different reason: when companies need to see, compare, demonstrate and discover, being in the same place can still have economic value.