PARIS – UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named Easyfairs as the winner of the 2024 UFI Sustainable Development Award. The UFI Sustainable Development Award aims to bolster the exhibition industry’s success by showcasing outstanding developments that are available to UFI members and the broader industry. It honours those who have implemented innovative and results-oriented initiatives, demonstrating excellence and fostering growth in the sector.
The topic for this year’s award was “Best example of sustainability integration into business proposals”, and Easyfairs’ submission covered both the intrinsic sustainability of their model and their overall ESG plan that includes initiatives engaging all stakeholders.
Edwin Van der Vennet, Chair of this year’s jury, declares, “Congratulations to Easyfairs for their very comprehensive and inspiring case. Their systematic, data-driven and widespread approach to tackling sustainability establishes a culture of sustainability that can serve as an example to many in the industry. The jury also recognised two other finalists for their strong entries: Jaarbeurs and RX France”.
Nil Sönmez, Chief Sustainability and Customer Experience Officer at Easyfairs, welcomes the award: “We are honoured to be recognised by UFI as the recipient of the 2024 Sustainable Development Award. This is a huge vote of confidence for the team members across our organisation who are shaping and implementing countless sustainability initiatives. Their collaborative efforts demonstrate that you can pursue sustainable targets, such as reducing carbon footprint, while improving the unique experiences delivered by face-to-face events.”
In addition to the entries from the two other finalists – “Accelerating sustainability at our trade shows and events” from Jaarbeurs (The Netherlands), and “Our sustainability strategy in action” from RX France, the jury also acknowledged several entries selected as best practices in the first round of the competition: Aditus (Germany), BITEC (Thailand), Comexposium (France), CQEXPO (China), Fiera Milano in partnership with Venditalia (Italy), IFEMA (Spain), Javits Center (USA), Procédés Chénel International (France), RX Africa (South Africa), Songdo ConvensiA (South Korea), TAITRA (Taiwan) and TIF-HELEXPO (Greece).
The UFI Sustainable Development Award, part of UFI’s annual Awards, recognises outstanding initiatives in the exhibition industry. These awards celebrate excellence across various categories, including human resources, operations & services, industry partners, digital innovation, marketing, and sustainability.
The 2024 UFI Award winners will present their projects at the 91st UFI Global Congress from 20-23 November 2024 in Cologne, Germany.
The article Easyfairs wins the 2024 UFI Sustainable Development Award first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.