Koelnmesse plans international growth: sales jump to € 450 million!

Koelnmesse plans international growth: sales jump to € 450 million!

Köln, Deutschland - Cologne has repositioned itself as an exhibition location in the trade fair world. 【GamesWirtschaft.de】 reports that the Koelnmesse starts 2024 with a fresh strategy. A central point is the new “Confex” venue, which will be available for numerous events from 2024. With this innovation, the Koelnmesse would like to boost international competition and secure profitable growth. Managing Director Oliver Frese is behind the goal of bringing Koelnmesse to one of the top 5 exhibition sites worldwide and emphasizing that increasing utilization of the area and digitization of the offers are essential.

in 2024 the Koelnmesse draws a consistently positive conclusion. The turnover could be increased to a proud 365.8 million euros, with a profit of 21.3 million euros, which underpins the need for growth. With a total of 76 events carried out, the Cologne team was also happy about more than 2.1 million visitors from 197 countries. This is a strong sign that the trade fair economy in Germany is slowly but surely growing out of the shadows of the Corona years. 【Promedianews.de】 shows that demand for trade fairs remains high in Germany, which is not a matter of course in the current economic situation.

sustainable future and expansion

Another step into the future is the ambitious corporate strategy "Level 35", which aims to significantly influence the global trade fair landscape by 2035. Until then, you want to not only remove the debts from the Pandemie era, but also invest over 1 billion euros in the Cologne location. This also includes extensive measures to sustainability, for example with a photovoltaic module area of ​​20,000 square meters on the new confero-roof.

The Koelnmesse also remains extremely active abroad: a total of 21 new foreign trade fairs have been established since 2023, with further nine planned for 2025. The international premiere and contract extensions, including with powerful gamescom, which expects more than 335,000 visitors in 2024, show the strength of the location and the continuing popularity of the events. According to the forecasts, sales in 2025 will exceed the mark of 450 million euros, which would be a new record.

challenges at a glance

But not everything runs smoothly. The Koelnmesse boss Gerald Böse warns of risks in the economic environment that particularly affect medium-sized companies. The pressure due to increasing costs and bureaucratization is noticeable, not least due to the continuing inflation. Despite these challenges, over 40 percent of companies show that they want to maintain their investments in trade fairs, which gives hope for the industry.

The trade fair company is aware of the extensive economic landscape in which it operates. Between 2020 and 2022, many trade fairs were canceled, and the lost tax revenues amount to around 9.7 billion euros. Therefore, every effort is worthwhile to continue to make the location attractive and to expand international offers. In addition, thanks to its excellent transport connection and proximity to the city center, the exhibition center is an additional incentive for potential exhibitors and guests.

It remains exciting how the Koelnmesse will develop in the coming years. One thing is certain: the trade fairs in Cologne are very popular and make a decisive contribution to the economic revival of the region.