Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH has set new record results for exhibitors and posted above target revenues in 2018.
Sales revenues at the venue were reported €3m above target on a figure of €102.8m, thanks to over 60 events delivering over 1.2m sqm of gross exhibition area. The temporary closure of the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH) did help skew the figures, however.
It was a colourful 12 months, the venue reported, with two of the leading international trade shows setting new exhibitor records, several awards, and one historic party convention.
“In an eventful year, with the largest-ever total gross exhibition area occupied, we have once again managed to exceed our own sales target,” said Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO, Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC).
“Apart from 11 trade shows organised by HMC, we were able to host 31 guest events plus 19 events that had to be moved to the exhibition facilities because of the temporary closure of the CCH. In addition, we organised the In-Water Boat Show in Neustadt, Holstein.”
The top-three events in terms of sales revenues were the trade shows INTERNORGA with approximately 93,000 visitors; WindEnergy Hamburg, which increased exhibitor numbers to 1,482, an approximate 20% growth since the inaugural event in 2014; and SMM, the leading international maritime trade fair - 2,289 exhibitors) representing an increase by nearly 1,000 since the year 2000.
SMM is Hamburg’s only trade show that occupies 13 exhibition halls - made possible by two temporary halls being added to the 11 permanent halls available for the show.
HMC reported an operating income of €25.3m, and an annual result of zero after subtracting the expenditures for leased venues, as well as investment, depreciation and interest.
Guest visitor figures of 722,649 were counted at trade fairs at CCH, including guest events. An additional 23,120 people attended 19 CCH events which were held in the exhibition halls. With 1,221,888sqm of gross floor area utilised, the results of previous years were topped again.
The WindEurope global conference 2018 was held in parallel with WindEnergy Hamburg for the first time, which meant that for four days the city of Hamburg was the centre of the global wind sector and a meeting place for the industry’s experts. The share of international exhibitors present at WindEnergy Hamburg crossed the 50% line.
GET Nord, a trade show launched in 2008 covering electrical engineering, sanitary installation and HVAC segments drew 500 exhibitors from 15 countries, and around 40,000 visitors, while NORTEC, the trade show for manufacturing, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018 in Hamburg.
With the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg closed for the entire year, 19 events relocated from the CCH to the exhibition complex.
The HMC international department also accompanied a total of 347 German exhibitors to trade shows in 10 countries during 2018.
The venue identifies three new events among its top-three highlights for 2019. The MARINE INTERIORS Cruise & Ferry Global Expo, powered by SMM, will premiere 11-13 September, 2019.
Six weeks later the event will be followed by therapie Hamburg, an industry show and conference for physical therapists, massage therapists and balneotherapists in northern Germany. It is organised by HMC jointly with Leipziger Messe, which has been hosting a similar trade event at its own venue for some time.
The third new event to open for the first time at the HMC exhibition complex will be Hamburg Open, a hybrid trade show and industry gathering for the German broadcasting and media technology sector.
