DW Special: Exhibitors Apprehensive of IIJS 2014, Mumbai

India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) has been a beacon of growth, success and prosperity for the gems and jewellery trade. Initialised about three decades ago, it has grown from strength to strength and has become one of the most important calendar events for Indian jewellers and diamantaires. The show has expanded horizon and has also welcomed a large horde of international visitors and exhibitors. It is little wonder then, that it has had a big waiting list of many jewellers who have been requesting a space in this galore of jewels. The dream of these large numbers of waiting jewellers will be coming true this year. The GJEPC, which has been working relentlessly for inclusive growth of the trade, has ensured of it.

But, all it not hunky dory when it comes to few leading exhibitors. These exhibitors have been a part of the show since a decade or more and are feeling unsatisfactory about the arrangements of IIJS 2014. The reasons being: a) Delay in unveiling of floor plan; b) A huge change in the floor plan; c) The change in location of booths and d) The multi-mezzanine model.

An exhibitor of the international repute was especially perturbed about these changes and said on a condition of anonymity, “We received a circular for Booth Allotment for IIJS 2014 through mail, on May 5, 2014. The final booth allotment is to be held section-wise at a centralisedlocation from May 19 to May 24, 2014. The objective of making a new floor plan by IIJS committee was to give an entry to the new companies that were in the waitlist since many years. Hence, IIJS was keen in bringing them in, though practically there was no space in the current venue. But IIJS anyhow created the space for them by creating the new floor plan by taking some risk of building majority of booths into mezzanine floors and at what cost, by making existing companies unhappy and disappointed.”

He further added, “All the existing companies has to invest again on a new booth designing and concept asthey cannot use their old booth due to shifting of location. This is almost harassment and very disappointing for the existing companies who have continuously invested in the IIJS and contributed in making it bigger. But, the committee does not care any more. Some of committee members have been very blunt and rude. They have said to us, ‘If you don’t like the new booth location then leave it. There are many other companies in queue waiting to replace you. But, once you leave then you will never get the chance to come back in the IIJS.’ Due to this most exhibitors are worried about raising their voice and have accepted the newdisastrous locations for their booth. In my opinion, there is not charm left in IIJS.”

Another exhibitor from the pink city had the same viewpoint. He shared, “The floor plan was revealed terrible late. We received it on May 7, 2014. What is worse is that the new floor plan is extremely chaotic. I am not at all happy with the plan. I have been allotted just one booth on the ground floor and four on the mezzanine. It does not make sense and it has put my business at IIJS 2014 in jeopardy. About 80 per cent of the exhibitors at IIJS, have been a part of this show since a decade. The committee should have taken our thoughts into consideration before coming up with this disastrous floor plan. In my opinion, the IIJS is enforcing all such changes at such a delayed point in time because they have the monopoly. There is no such show such as IIJS with such great stature and we have no option but to be a part of it though we are very unhappy.”

Swaroop Biswas, Marketing Manager of Kiran Gems was not too perturbed. “I agree that the floor plan was given to us very late. It happened due to the redoing of the locations. But, we cannot judge the committee, as we do not know the quantum of work that they must have done to completely change the floor plan. The committee works for inclusive growth and they did this to give space to new exhibitors who have been in the waiting list for many years. We cannot question the integrity of the GJEPC as it works for the entire industry and for the betterment for all. My only wish is that they could have announced these changes much earlier, probably at the last IIJS itself,” he opined.

Sanjay Shah, Owner of Gold Star Diamond Pvt Ltd was extremely agitated and stated, “The floor plan is pathetic and I am extremely unsatisfied. There are many people who are spending big money on the IIJS and now due to the change in floor plan the locations of the booths have been changed. The new locations are useless. Most of the exhibitors have received G +1 booths, which is not helpful any way. The mezzanine floors will have lesser traffic. It was necessary to have a voting system before making such a big change. Due to the change in the location, I will now have to reinvest in designing my booths, which is an additional cost. People who have requested for 8-booth plans, have their booths scatteredacross the venue. In terms of final allocation, it kept getting delayed further and further. This is way behind schedule.” When asked if he thinks that the committee may rethink the floor plan and booth allocations, he said that they would do nothing now as 600 booths have already been allocated and they will not go back on their word.

With so much anxiety amongst the exhibitors, we thought it to be right to have the viewpoint of the committee and spoke to Nirav Bhansali, the convener of the show. He explained, “If you look at the bigger picture, most exhibitors are happy with the floor plan as we have accommodated many people who have been in the waiting list for a couple of years. We have added 450 new booths. We have also segregated the sections, this year. One will see the different sections for gold jewellery, diamond, loose stone, gemstones— all sectioned in different divisions, which will make it easier for the visitors and the exhibitors. In the last seven or eight years, the show has grown a lot and all the sections were mixed but now that problem will be solved this year. There will be a harmony in the fair. To accommodate the waiting list and to facilitate segregation, a new floor plan has evolved.”

But, we stressed on the fact that some exhibitors are unhappy with this change. To this said, “We have not reduced anyone’s floor space. Exhibitors have the same space as the last few years but due to accommodation of new booths and segregation of section, the locations of the booths have changed. Any change is difficult to accept. This is just the first year, exhibitors are not used to the new locations and thus the unhappiness but I am sure with time, everyone will be habituated to it. In addition to retaining the same floor space, we also have retained the same configurations of the booths as past years. So, an exhibitor who has been having a 4x4 or 8x8booth will have the same configuration for this year as well. We have tried to retain the same configurations for 90 per cent of exhibitors.”

We requested him to throw light on the multi-mezzanine model, which has perplexed many. “As you know, Mumbai has a space constraint. The Bombay Exhibition Centre has a space constraint, too. If we had to grow and accommodate 450 new booths, the only way was to grow vertically. Last year we tried the four multi-mezzanine model booths and garnered a good response. This year we have introduced 50 multi-mezzanine model booths. We have also offered a substantial discount on the mezzanine floors. We have offered about 30 to 50 per cent discounts, as we understand the exhibitors’ predicament.”

When asked about the delay in floor plans reveling, he said, “To make such a big change and to include everybody is a big exercise, which took us four months to come up with this floor plan. Some time betweenJanuary end and February first week, we informed the exhibitors of this change. We asked for their preferences through the registration of preferences and then informed about the preferences to our design team, who had to come with a completely new floor plan.”

We informed him that some exhibitors wished that thecommittee should have had kept a voting system and their thoughts should have been taken into consideration. “The voting system is not possible on such a large scale. For us too, executing this new and large model sis going to be difficult in such a short period of time but we are hopeful that it will be a smooth process. One has to understand that GJEPC works for inclusive growth and is also answerable to the smaller jewellers who wanted to be a part of the show since many years. We have accommodated them this year and we have segregatedthe sections in a planned manner for a smooth exhibition experience. We know that some exhibitors are upset about the changes but we are sure they will accept it and the show will be a huge success. With the addition of new booths, we are also expecting to have 5000 to 10,000 new visitors and this is a win-win situation for all.”

With the industry facing the testing times, the IIJS is one big hope to change the atmosphere. But, with so muchanimosity between the exhibitors and the committee, we wonder what the end result will be. One can only hope for the best.