Catering for growing exhibition logistics market

The exacting demands of international exhibition logistics is often underestimated, says Annette Pather, forwarding and groupages manager at Turners Shipping. “Transport and logistics are usually the last thing on the mind of the people planning to participate in an international event,” she said. “They book their stand, design and manufacture their display materials, make all the other arrangements and then only consider shipping everything there – and this can be a costly mistake.” Trade shows and exhibitions present logistics service providers with a fixed deadline which determines the strict timelines for the project. “Clients sometimes don’t understand the complexity of the exercise,” she says. “Last-minute shipments usually have to be airfreighted to their destination which increases the costs drastically.” All of the display materials have to be exported to the international venue and then imported for their return to South Africa. “If there are goods that are going to be sold at the event it adds a whole new set of challenges to the management of the logistics.” The service offered by Turners Shipping dovetails with the Conferences division of XL Turners Travel which is part of the Turner Group of companies. The sister companies are able to provide a complete logistical and management solution for their clients and conference hosts. CAPTION Managing the expanding client offering into the exhibition and event logistics industry … Turners Shipping forwarding and groupages manager Annette Pather, and Neren Dayanand, branch manager, Durban.