Positive mood in the economy boosts strong first half-year for German trade fairs

The international and national trade fairs in Germany have accelerated their growth over 2016: In the first half of 2017, they registered roughly 3% more exhibitors and stand space than their respective previous events. The number of visitors rose by 1%. These were the results of preliminary calculations by AUMA – The Association of the German Trade Fair Industry.

This is a considerably better result than for the complete year 2016, when exhibitor participation rose by 1.5% and stand space by 1%. The number of visitors last year remained almost constant at -0.2%. The reason for the positive results in the first half-year of 2017 was, first, the strong consumer and investment climate in Germany. Another factor is the widespread confidence in the German economy regarding the effectiveness of trade fairs as an instrument. According to a study by AUMA, over 80% of exhibiting companies regard trade fairs as an important or very important part of their business-to-business communications.

For the entire year of 2017, AUMA expects somewhat lower growth than in the first half of the year as individual trade fairs are showing lower participation rates at present. But the growth of the total number of 157 planned trade fairs should be considerably higher in terms of exhibitor numbers and stand space than the previous year’s figures.