Measured by revenue in 2018, seven of the world’s top 15 exhibition companies are based in Germany. The results come from a study completed in August 2019 by AUMA – the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry.
The study is based on reported revenues from companies that solely operate as exhibition organisers, venues, or companies active in both fields. Revenue generated by German exhibition organisers totalled approximately €4bn in 2018, the study reveals.
Two UK-based organisers lead the way in terms of revenues: Reed Exhibitions (€1,351.9m) and Informa (€1,318.9 m), which acquired British organiser UBM in mid-2018. Messe Frankfurt sits in third place with sales of €718.1m and is followed by GL events from France (€477m), the MCH Group from Switzerland (€463.9m) and Messe München (€417.9m). Another five German organisers also make it into the top 15: Messe Berlin is in ninth place (€352.1m) and Koelnmesse in tenth (€337.4m); additionally NürnbergMesse lies 12th (€315.1m), Deutsche Messe AG Hannover 13th (€309.7m) and Messe Düsseldorf is in 14th place (€294m).
Of the 34 exhibition companies which have revenue totalling more than €100m, nine are based in Germany and eight in the United Kingdom. Companies from Europe dominate this ranking overall, with only four of the 34 companies based outside Europe: Emerald Expositions (USA), Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Tokyo Big Sight and SNIEC Shanghai.
For 2019, however, AUMA is anticipating sales in Germany falling back to approximately €3.8bn, largely due, it claims, to the fact that 2019 is “a year with fewer interval-based events”.
