I’ve seen the costs of a couple thousand booths, but the exhibit itself is a fraction of the cost you can expect to pay to actually exhibit, there’s travel expenses, exhibit space costs, set-up, dismantle, shipping, drayage, etc. There’s ways to minimize these expenses, but I agree it can get quite expensive, especially if you are a start-up with a limited marketing budget.
The consortium idea is used in the industry, the most typical example I’ve seen are international pavilions hosted by the companies’ home countries. So for example at IMTS in Chicago there might be a “Home Country Pavilion”, which is basically a larger space carved into smaller inline spaces that exhibitors from their home country would be allowed to sub-lease, presumably at a reduced cost subsidized by their home country’s government. I’ve also seen this done by academic institutions, agricultural organizations, etc. Depending on your product/service there might be an organization you could partner with who does pavilion exhibiting at a show.
Is there a specific show that you are wanting to target?