The recession has conquered the world exhibition industry. Croatia has not been spared either.Since the exhibitionindustryis strongly correlated with the economic situation in industry sectors,and the economic recovery is going slow,a lot of time seems to remain for the struggle to keep the fair business afloat.The article analyses and researches the global exhibition industry trends,the trade fair and exhibition industry in Croatia,its quality and the scope of influence,core compe-tences, advantages of employing the strategic management model for professional fair operating companies and the possibility for the industry to achieve competitive advan-tage.The conducted empirical research reveals to what extent the strategic level linked to the project management contributes to better performing and achieving the business excellence in this industry.Additionally, somenew business models and tools are being proposed and evaluated to beused for reducing the damage not only in TF1 industry, but in various kinds of service industries in Croatia, such as CEM.