Launching an art fair or art festival is not just a creative project. It is a high risk operational business with reputational consequences. If your exhibitor mix is wrong, your pricing is unclear, your floor plan underperforms, or your visitor promise is vague, the market will notice quickly and it becomes harder to recover next year.
That is why the smartest organizers start with a structured consultancy call. Not as an add on. As a pre launch decision tool.
I am Gottfried Eisenberger, founder of The Art Fair Guy, and my work sits exactly in the overlap most events struggle with: curation, commercial strategy, exhibitor acquisition, and real world delivery across the GCC and wider MENA.
This article explains what experienced organizers validate before spending serious money, and why a single expert call often saves weeks of wrong execution.
The uncomfortable truth: most first editions fail for predictable reasons
In the Middle East and Europe, I see the same pattern again and again. The concept is exciting, the venue is booked, marketing begins, and then the event hits a wall because fundamentals were not tested early enough.
Here are the most common failure points:
1) The fair does not know what it is selling
Are you selling affordable art, discovery, curated cultural status, design crossover, or community activation? Without a clear sales promise, everything becomes harder: pricing, exhibitor targeting, sponsorship, and visitor conversion.
2) Pricing is not aligned with the exhibitor reality
Booth prices cannot be set by gut feel. They must match your visitor promise, location economics, marketing capacity, competitor benchmarking, and the sales cycle you can realistically execute.
3) Exhibitor acquisition starts too late
If you need strong exhibitors, you need a plan, a pipeline, outreach scripts, a selection logic, and a deadline calendar. Great exhibitors are booked early, especially in the Gulf art season.
4) Marketing is treated as content, not as conversion
A beautiful campaign does not guarantee ticket sales. You need channel strategy, targeting, partnerships, media angles, and clear tracking.
Why the Middle East makes expert planning even more important
The GCC is opportunity rich, but the operating environment has its own rules. If you are an organizer planning a fair in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, or Oman, these factors matter:
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Seasonality is real: audience attention clusters around key cultural months and travel periods.
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Partnerships often decide success: government, destinations, malls, real estate groups, and corporate sponsors can unlock scale.
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Cultural context must be respected: programming, public messaging, and partnerships need local intelligence.
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International exhibitor logistics are not trivial: shipping, customs, insurance, payments, and staffing require planning discipline.
This is exactly the type of work The Art Fair Guy consultancy covers for fairs and event organizers.
What a proper consultancy call should cover
A good first call is not a generic brainstorm. It is a structured diagnostic that produces clear next steps.
Here is what I typically map in the first session:
Concept and positioning
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What is your event promise in one sentence?
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Who is the real buyer and what price range are you built for?
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What is your differentiator versus the closest regional alternatives?
Exhibitor strategy
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Ideal exhibitor mix by category: galleries, solo artists, design, editions, photography, institutions
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Quality control rules that protect your brand from the start
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An outreach plan that is realistic for your timeline and team size
Pricing and revenue model
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Booth and package ladder
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Sponsorship categories that make sense for the GCC
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Ticketing logic and group sales, including corporate bundles
Floor plan and visitor journey
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Layout that supports sales and discovery
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Programming that increases dwell time without creating chaos
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VIP flow, collector services, and exhibitor satisfaction signals
Marketing and partnerships
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A channel plan built for conversion
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Partnership targets that can move attendance
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A content plan that supports sales, not vanity metrics
Operations and risk
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Team roles, staffing plan, timeline, supplier list
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Decision checkpoints and what must be locked by when
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Risks that can damage reputation in year one and how to prevent them
If something cannot be verified in advance, for example expected footfall or partner commitments, the correct approach is to define what proof you need, who can provide it, and by which date. That is how professionals avoid building an event on assumptions.
Why The Art Fair Guy is not “just another consultant”
Our consulting is not theory. It is built on direct work inside the art fair and exhibition world, paired with a deep focus on GCC market realities.
Here are the platforms that shape our approach:
The Art Fair Guy consultancy
The Art Fair Guy provides consulting for artists, galleries, and crucially for art fairs and exhibition organizers, with a focus on strategy, setup, optimization, and marketing.
Ready to Show Art: touring exhibition delivery for the Middle East
Ready to Show Art delivers turnkey, museum quality touring exhibitions across the Middle East, including infrastructure, lighting, curated content, and full service setup. That operational experience matters because many fair problems are not curatorial. They are delivery problems.
scan.art: digital exhibition guides for fairs worldwide
With scan.art, we have worked with dozens of art fairs and exhibitions internationally to deliver digital exhibition guides that improve visitor navigation, artwork discovery, and exhibitor visibility. That hands on exposure to real fair environments, from floor plan logic to visitor behaviour, directly shapes how we advise organizers on programming, UX, lead generation, and exhibitor satisfaction.
View From Above: a proven touring exhibition model at scale
View From Above has become one of the most successful touring space photography exhibition concepts currently operating, attracting tens of thousands of visitors across its runs in Graz, Augsburg, and Nürnberg. Building and operating this concept has sharpened our approach to what actually drives results: a clear audience promise, scalable production, strong storytelling, ticketing strategy, partnership packaging, and operational discipline that holds up city after city.
What you get from the first consultancy call
You should leave the call with:
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A refined event positioning statement and target audience definition
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A recommended exhibitor mix and acquisition action plan
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A pricing and package direction based on your goals and constraints
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A short list of the highest impact partnerships to pursue first
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A risk list and timeline checklist for your first edition
If your concept is not ready, I will tell you clearly and explain what needs to be proven before you spend on venue, marketing, or team expansion.
Book a Consulting Call with us!
If you are planning a new art fair or art festival in the Middle East, a single consultancy call can prevent expensive mistakes and give you a framework that the market will respect.
If you want to discuss your concept, you can reach The Art Fair Guy via the contact page, by phone, or email. You can reach us here: office@theartfairguy.com
FAQ
Is a consultancy call useful if I already booked a venue?
Yes. Venue is only one variable. The call helps align positioning, exhibitor acquisition, pricing, floor plan logic, and marketing so the venue decision becomes profitable rather than stressful.
Do you consult only for Middle East events?
No. The Art Fair Guy works internationally, but the GCC and wider MENA is a core focus, including event strategy and execution realities for the region.
Can you help with sponsorship and partnerships?
Yes. Sponsorship packaging, partner targeting, and value proposition building are part of art fair and festival consulting.
What should I prepare before the call?
Bring your draft concept, target city, tentative dates, venue specs, expected exhibitor count, and any budget ranges. If you have none of these yet, we can still start, but the output will be a feasibility checklist.
Do you also help list and promote events?
Yes. There is an event submission option to be considered for The Art Fair Guy directory, subject to review.
