Not every square meter of an exhibition plan is used to sell booths. A portion of the area is deliberately set aside for special zones called feature areas, with the goal of keeping visitors in the hall longer.

What is a feature area

Feature areas are zones designed specially in an exhibition floor plan to attract visitors and keep them on the show floor longer. However, as the two-sided nature of the name suggests, these zones can also be distracting, pulling visitors away from the main business exhibitors are doing at their booths.

Strategic placement of feature areas can draw visitor traffic into parts of the hall that have slow traffic flow. The presence of food and drink also keeps visitors from leaving the event for lunch or refreshments elsewhere, and this area can be paid for by a sponsor or sold directly to visitors.

Common examples of feature areas

The list of elements that can appear in a plan as feature areas is quite varied:

  • A cyber cafe, an area with free wifi
  • Food stations, coffee shops, seating areas
  • An industry association's book counter
  • A prize-draw or raffle area

There are other examples of distinctive areas too: an association booth, a poster session area (presenting research on posters), a registration area, a new-product display area, a live product demonstration area, a cooking demonstration area, a fashion demonstration area, a sports demonstration or activity area.

Noise limits for activities in feature areas

Prize draws and new products can draw attention to a booth, but noise and other activities should not affect the exhibition's general business environment. A common rule is a maximum of 85dB for activities within booths, a figure the organizer should write straight into the rules for exhibitors and not just mention verbally.

Consider the scale of the industry when placing feature areas

How necessary feature areas are, and which booth types suit, also depend on the specifics of the industry. A heavy equipment exhibition will need many island booths to display large machinery, whereas at a smaller event most exhibitors need only linear booths. All of these factors, together with others not listed, need to be weighed before the floor plan is finalized, so that allocating area to feature areas among the booths creates a better overall layout.

Place feature areas correctly from the first design round

Because a feature area both attracts visitors and carries the risk of distraction, the decision on its location shouldn't be left to the last minute. From the first round of floor plan design, the organizer needs to decide which feature areas will appear, put them in areas with weak traffic flow to balance footfall, and set clear limits on noise and permitted activities, to avoid adjusting midway after exhibitors have complained.

Not every feature area is built at the organizer's expense. Many, such as phone-charging stations, coffee areas or rest seating, are usually paid for by sponsors in exchange for logo display in that area, which both cuts the organizer's costs and adds a sponsorship revenue line beyond booth sales. When negotiating with a potential sponsor for a feature area, the organizer should state the planned position on the plan and estimate the traffic through that area, so the sponsor has a basis to assess the brand visibility they will receive.

Measure the effect of feature areas after each edition

A feature area is only a real success if it draws visitor traffic to the intended area. The organizer should observe or sample-count visitor traffic around feature areas during show days and compare it with a similar area without one, to know whether the investment (or the area sacrificed from booth sales) was worthwhile before deciding to keep or move it for the next edition.