Germany
The Rotary International convention
and exhibition at Hamburg Messe,
1-5 June 2019, well illustrated the
value of the events sector to the
economy:
The exhibition took place alongside the
‘House of Friendship’ convention, and
comprised of 334 stands showcasing
international exhibitors, 200 of which
featured Rotary humanitarian projects.
More than 26,000 attendees visited the
Rotary International Congress from 170
countries (representing 3,605 Rotary
Clubs) in what was the largest event
in the history of Hamburg’s Trade
Fair (according to NDR - Northern
German Broadcast Company). As an
added benefit this event generated
an estimated US$27m for the local
economy according to Rotary
International.
the success of the country’s expo
industry, it helps to understand
the economic system of modern
Germany.
Anyone familiar with the
German car industry will know its
success is often attributed to its
private-public model – meaning
they operate as private companies
but also receive significant
funding from the government. This
economic model is common across
much of the country’s industry and
this is exactly how the German
exhibition world works.
Unlike other countries where
venues and events are run by
private profit-focused companies,
German exhibition venues
receive strong support from the
public sector and are owned and
managed by local government
bodies. However, each exhibition
hall is run as a private company
known as a ‘Messe’ – which
translates as ‘’fair’ or ‘expo’.
The result of this unique
business model is that organisers
can hold events with low
participation fees and low
technical service costs.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Above: The
Speicherstadt
warehouse
district at night in
All of the major German cities
host tradeshows. Here we look at
some of the leading venues for
organisers to consider:
Hamburg, Germany
Messe Hanover
Covering a surface area of
554,000sqm (58,000 sqm of outdoor
space and 496,000sqm indoors),
Messe Hanover is the largest
exhibition ground in the world
(pending Stage 2 in Shenzhen
World, China, of course). With 29
halls and 35 function rooms, it has
been a leading exhibition venue for
more than 60 years.
Also known as ‘the miracle of
economies’, it is also the birthplace
of the German exhibition industry.
In order to encourage economic
recovery after World War 2, the
British Military held a tradeshow in
an old aircraft hangar in Hanover.
The event proved so successful it
soon became a permanent fixture,
and the site went on to become
Messe Hanover.
With a large international
airport on its doorstep, with many
direct flights to major world cities,
Messe Hanover is easily accessible.
Messe Frankfurt
If Hanover can claim to be the
largest exhibition ground, then
Frankfurt has the biggest capacity.
Located in Germany’s financial
and business centre, Messe
Frankfurt is one of the most modern
in the world, with 367,000sqm of
hall area and 96,000sqm of free
space at its disposal. Frankfurt
Airport has direct flights to over 260
destinations.
Business is engraved into
Frankfurt’s DNA. With over 5m
professionals living within the
centre’s catchment area, the venue
attracts a large B2B audience with
good reason.
Messe Düsseldorf
With 19 exhibition halls, spanning
262,000sqm, Messe Düsseldorf is
equipped to host any sized event,
from large industry exhibitions to
small tradeshows.
The venue organising arm at the
Messe has enabled Messe Düsseldorf
to become one of the top venues in
terms of tradeshow revenue.
Located in the north-west of
Germany, the venue is just a two-
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