Recent Evolutions and Trends in the Trade Fairs and Exhibitions Industry, before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. The ROMEXPO Company’s Case (Romania)

Exhibitions are one of the most important marketing tools, especially in terms of B2B communication. Before the COVID-19 pandemic there had already been a tendency towards organizing online or hybrid events. Following the pandemic, trade fairs have shown that they are able to transform themselves, and the exhibition industry has recovered, however, without reaching the performances recorded in the year 2019. Nevertheless, there have also been exceptions. Both exhibitors and visitors have expressed, in large numbers, a desire to meet physically; nonetheless, an increase in online or hybrid events is expected. The objective of this paper is to analyze the main developments of the exhibition industry before, during and after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, at international level, including the case of the evolution of the Romanian company ROMEXPO, from Romania, which recorded a spectacular development in 2022.