Germany
Germany: the
exhibition
capital of the
world
A view by Austin Rowlands,
Quadrant2Design
of any benefit and they are suffering
from severe and acute loss of sales.”
AUMA says it has to be ensured
that the German economy in
future – and particularly small and
medium-sized enterprises – will be
able to rely on the highly effective
instrument that is the ‘Messe’
(tradefair) and can continue co-
operating with contractors. Without
government support this is unlikely
to be realised, despite the great
efforts of the exhibition industry
itself.
Germany claims the number
one spot worldwide in terms of
organising international tradefairs,
with 160-180 taking place across
the country annually. Add to this
180,000 exhibitors and 10m visitors
meeting up on German exhibition
grounds and the fact that German
exhibiting companies invest almost
half of their B2B communication
budgets in tradefair participations.
The combined spend of exhibitors
and visitors at tradefairs in
Germany results in macroeconomic
production effects of more than
€28bn, AUMA adds.
Further evidence provided in the
AUMA survey of the power of the
sector in Germany is the figure of
230,000 jobs provided by tradefairs
and tax revenues approximating
€4.5bn.
30
Issue 2 2020
Above: Reichstag
building, seat of the
German Parliament
lthough there are
far more serious
implications
to consider at
the moment, the devastating
effects of the coronavirus have
understandably put the exhibition
world on hold for the time being.
As Germany is home to over 60%
of all the major exhibition and
tradeshows in the world, the
country’s tradeshow industry has
been particularly hit hard by the
outbreak of Covid-19.
These are clearly not normal
times and no-one quite knows how
the next few months are going to
pan out. The impact of cancelling or
postponing Germany’s tradeshows
right now will have serious
consequences for the country’s
economy as a whole.
Germany is Europe’s largest and
strongest economy - and the fourth
largest in the world. The country’s
vast exhibition industry certainly
makes a significant contribution
to its leading economic status. It
is estimated that exhibitors and
visitors spend around €14.5bn
a year for their activities at
exhibitions and tradeshows in
Germany.
In normal times, around 10
million visitors attend the 160-plus
major tradeshows in Germany
annually. More than half of the
attendees come from overseas,
which means these events expand
their potential reach far beyond the
Rhine or the Elbe.
If you’re looking for a place to
hold a tradeshow with global reach,
you’d struggle to find anywhere
better than one of the main
exhibition venues in Germany.
No.1 in Europe
But how did the land of Bratwurst
and Schnitzel become the
world’s number one hotspot for
exhibitions?
Germany’s position as the
exhibition capital of the world
is no accident. To understand
As of mid-March
AUMA was
reporting 60
exhibitions no
longer taking
place as planned
in March,
April and May.
About 20 are
cancellations
for 2020, but
nearly 40 have
been postponed
and for 25 the
organiser has
already found a
new date.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk