PARTICIPATING in trade shows, expos, and exhibitions is one of the best ways to expose your business. You can call it whatever you want; any event that allows you to have the opportunity to display and showcase your products and services face-to-face with potential new customers in your target market gives you numerous benefits and advantages.

You have to find the right kind of trade show or expo for your business; one that has a large enough attendance record, so you are not wasting your time, money or effort. There should be at least a few thousand attendees.
People walk into the venue already very interested in your products and services. This is your very rare chance to be face-to-face with the decision makers. They could be the president, vice-president, CEO, or executives of a corporation.
GuyExpo is just days away — 400 exhibitors, 150 overseas participants, and over 80,000 local and overseas visitors are expected. This expo marketing experience gives businesses — micro and macro– opportunity to place their products/services before thousands of prospective clients in a matter of four days.
A company, product or service will be exposed to over 2000 persons per hour!  These prospective clients are able to interact with businesses in an environment that is comfortable and friendly.
GuyExpo 2012 promises to attract more than 150 overseas investors coming from various countries, like Barbados, Brazil, China, Canada, India, and the United States of America. In short, the event will play an integral role in the exhibitors’ marketing mix, while serving as a driving force behind the economy, taking into account globalization and the need to have merging markets.
Some 400 micro, medium and large scale businesses have already registered with GuyExpo 2012, which indicates the potential and opportunities that come with participating in this annual trade fair. Expenditure alone for the four days of the event amounts to over $1billion – from the carpenter, to the farmer, to the taxi drivers to the consumers.
Through GuyExpo, stronger focus is placed on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, which ensures that local businesses enjoy the level of growth and expansion that is needed for them to remain competitive at the regional and international levels.
Additionally, there is a huge Guyanese diaspora that would like to return home and invest in various fields. This event draws attention to the possibilities that exist for investment and employment, and also highlights the country’s potential as a premier destination for meetings and conferences.
The central idea this year is to promote business and investment opportunities in the context of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS); and the theme – ‘strengthening the Traditional, Embracing the New’ – reflects on Guyana’s leading role in agriculture around the Caribbean. The trade fair will also be centred on food security and sustainability, not only in Guyana, but for the entire region. This strategy has been adopted by Caricom.
In light of the high food importation bill that many Caribbean nations face, GuyExpo can provide an opportunity for Guyana to market its products and services in helping to address this critical issue.
With the good management of past exhibitions, the annual event is now self-sufficient and much improved, as the government, in collaboration with the private sector, has raised the expo to the standard it is at today, boasting new features, themed pavilions, quality exhibits, and wholesome entertainment.
While there are many success stories in relation to how local businesses have been able to take advantage of the linkages GuyExpo has created, the impact of Guyana’s premier trade fair is reflected in the number of exhibitors — overseas and local — who continue to participate, and the thousands of patrons who flock the exhibition site for this event.
What began in 1995 as a biennial event has now morphed into a national event with a permanent place on the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry’s annual calendar of events, which offers business associates the opportunity to meet, network, and negotiate with international companies and establishments; as well as showcase their skills, talents and creative work.
There are many investment opportunities that exist in Guyana, and GuyExpo is the perfect avenue through which the vital linkages are created.
The platform continues to be laid for the successful hosting of GuyExpo 2012, which will include new features such as the Tourism Village, Fashion Village, a Youth Entrepreneur Village and an International Pavilion, all reflective of the developmental trajectory the country is currently on.
(The author, a former journalist, is Communications Officer at the Guyana Tourism Authority).