MESSE DÜSSELDORF: EVENTS IN 2021 AND EFFICIENT SET OF MEASURES BUFFER PANDEMIC EFFECTS

              Figures subject to final accounts

 

Strategy program and new events launched

Düsseldorf Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller: “Continued high relevance of trade fairs”

 

   During the second year of the pandemic, Messe Düsseldorf has already succeeded in organizing more events than in the previous year, including three new events abroad. In 2022, the total number of trade fairs will  increase again due to the emerging endemic situation and the advances in vaccination. With efficient cost management Messe Düsseldorf counteracts the effects of Covid-19 and is setting itself up for the future with a strategic program.

 

   Messe Düsseldorf is experiencing a slight recovery in the exhibition business. The four trade fairs (CARAVAN SALON, A+A, MEDICA and COMPAMED) and four partner and guest events (INTERBRIDE, “Flotte! Der Branchentreff”, PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION, ARCHITECT@WORK) all held at the homebase of Düsseldorf, Germany in 2021, will be followed by 14 trade fairs as well as partner and guest events this year. The currently dynamic infection patterns and quickly spreading Omicron variant have, however, led to adjustments in Düsseldorf’s trade fair scheduling. After cancelling the world’s biggest water sports trade fair boot Düsseldorf on account of a ban for B2C fairs imposed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in January, Messe Düsseldorf postponed the following six trade fairs to early summer 2022, each in close consultation with the parties and associations involved. Now the Düsseldorf trade fair calendar will start with BEAUTY (6 – 8 May) and TOP HAIR (7 – 8 May), followed by ProWein (15 – 17 May), EuroCIS (31 May – 2 June), wire and Tube (both 20 – 24 June).

 

   Dr. Stephan Keller, Lord Mayor of the state capital Düsseldorf and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf, commented: “We continue to look ahead with confidence to an eventful trade fair year in 2022. From early summer on health experts expect a low number of new infections and, hence, more people to be able to travel to Germany and take part in Düsseldorf trade fairs. This translates into more successful trade fairs for the exhibiting companies and for business in Düsseldorf and thus continued high relevance of our trade fairs.”

 

   The events planned at the Düsseldorf fairgrounds in 2022 include two new platforms revolving around energy transition: decarbXpo (Expo for Decarbonised Industries > ENERGY STORAGE) from September 20 - 22 will extend the former ENERGY STORAGE trade fair to include technologies for CO2 reduction. Additionally, Solar Solutions will be held from  November 30 – December 1 as a new guest event for solar energy. Last year Messe Düsseldorf organized 21 events and participations (previous year 16) and in 2022 this number is expected to rise to 53. These figures include three new events in 2021 (ProWine São Paulo, ProWine Mumbai, FoodAfrica Cairo) and four in 2022 (REHACARE SHANGHAI, MEDICAL FAIR BRASIL, COLOMBIAPLAST, CorruTec Asia).

 

Financial impact of Covid-19

   The pandemic continues to heavily impact the preliminary annual figures for 2021. Revenue at the Messe Düsseldorf Group and Messe Düsseldorf GmbH was down in each case by 26% compared to the previous year. The Messe Düsseldorf Group is expected to generate sales of approximately  EUR 102 million (2020: EUR 136.8 million); for Messe Düsseldorf GmbH this figure will amount to about EUR 93 million (2020: EUR 126 million). Despite this trend, losses could be limited. For the GmbH losses are expected to drop by 43% to about. EUR 25 million (previous year: EUR 43.5 million). Despite these developments, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH continues to enjoy a very high equity position at EUR 361 million. Its equity ratio of about 50% (2020: 64%) remains high.

 

   Messe Düsseldorf is counteracting the financial impact of Covid-19 with cost savings.  In 2021 Messe Düsseldorf GmbH was on a short-term work schedule with new hires suspended and only a minimum of vacancies being filled, fix-term contracts expiring and partial retirement models with long-term effect offered. As a result, the number of employees at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH has therefore decreased from an average of 709 in 2020 to 655 in 2021. Furthermore, investments were reduced to a minimum, numerous construction projects on the premises were put on hold for a longer period of time and internal expenditures was cancelled.  

 

Strategic re-orientation started

   Messe Düsseldorf is repositioning itself strategically, as Wolfram N. Diener, CEO & President of Messe Düsseldorf, explains: “To continue playing in the top league of the international trade fair business, we have to develop further. This is not only due to Covid – but the pandemic has also acted as an accelerator for issues and measures.” Messe Düsseldorf has defined seven fields of activity that it will focus on over the coming years until late 2025: global business development, development of new trade fair themes and services, strengthening of sales, digital transformation, corporate culture, exhibition center of the future as well as structural and process optimization. “Each field of activity is driven by a multi-disciplinary team of in-house experts. This way the expertise from various divisions, projects and interface departments can be translated into operative success,” explains Diener.

 

Positive forecasts for 2022

   These activities - together with the recovering trade show business - contribute to positive prospects for 2022. Bernhard J. Stempfle, Managing Director Finance and Infrastructure at Messe Düsseldorf, said: “Provided the circumstances develop in a stable manner, it should be possible to double revenues which, in turn, would also improve results noticeably.” The revenue of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH should rise to approximately EUR 271 million according to the current forecast. “We draw this confidence from the current order situation as well as the high demand from customers,” says Bernhard J. Stempfle.

 

   “The trade fairs held in 2021 already received very positive feedback,” explains Erhard Wienkamp, Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business at Messe Düsseldorf: “Although there were fewer exhibiting companies and visitors at our 2021 trade shows due to the pandemic, the numbers and especially the internationality were still at a high level. From discussions with our customers, we know that expectations were often exceeded.” Particularly noteworthy is CARAVAN SALON, which recorded a larger number of exhibitors (653) than in 2019 before the pandemic (645). Compared to 2020 with 337 exhibiting companies this number almost doubled. At 185,599, the number of visitors was still below the pre-pandemic levels (2019: 270,567), but already 74% higher than in the previous year (2020: 106,741).

 

   Overall, the eight trade fairs and guest events held at the Düsseldorf location last year attracted 5,968 exhibiting companies and 267,126 visitors, compared to 2020’s seven events with 5,422 exhibitors and 493,472 visitors (2019: 29 events with 29,222 exhibiting companies and 1,373,780 visitors). The internationality of the exhibiting companies at Messe Düsseldorf’s trade fairs again reached the 2019 record levels at 73%. In 2020 the figure stood at 63%. At 33% the internationality of visitors came close to pre-pandemic levels again (2019: 37%; 2020: 27%).

 

Good ratings for Düsseldorf trade fairs

   The trade fairs also proved to be successful for the participating companies. The satisfaction of exhibitors and visitors was around 90%; approximately 92% would recommend the trade fairs to others. Safety was also repeatedly rated positively: More than 90% of those surveyed said they felt safe at Messe Düsseldorf, taking into account the hygiene measures. The A+A trade fair marked the highest results with 97%.   

 

The future is hybrid

   Staging virtual.drupa, Messe Düsseldorf organized an online-only event with 212 exhibiting companies from 35 countries and about 45,000 participants from 155 nations in April 2021. The other trade fairs at the Düsseldorf exhibition center were all held in a hybrid format in 2021 – the combination of physical events and virtual components as exhibitor profiles and streaming. “Hybrid trade fairs can be attended by those not physically on site, and exhibitors can reach out to even more potential customers. Together, they form a community that can be active 365 days a year,” explains Wolfram N. Diener. “Hybrid events generate the biggest benefit for our customers and consolidate the pole position of Düsseldorf’s leading No. 1 trade fairs as central communication and information platforms for their respective industries – during the physical trade fairs and all year long.”

 

Düsseldorf Congress demonstrates its event and digital expertise

    The subsidiary Düsseldorf Congress (DC), specialized in congresses, meetings and events, has also extended its portfolio to include virtual and hybrid events and installed a streaming studio at Congress Center Düsseldorf / CCD – one of several new feature. For meeting of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), DC realized an extensive media production – consisting of an online platform, elements broadcast live from CCD, numerous streams and on-demand videos which the DC team had pre-recorded all over Germany. DC’s other highlights in 2021 included the ‘Tonmeistertagung tmt’ which was held with 4,000 attendees in Düsseldorf for the first time after three editions in Cologne. The Anime and Japan Expo Dokomi again was the largest DC event with 28,000 visitors and  650 exhibitors in Halls 1 to 5 and the entire CCD.  

 

Re-start worldwide

   While in Düsseldorf the trade fair year 2021 started in July, the two biggest international markets could already start business again in the 2nd half of 2020. The subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai organized five trade fairs in 2021 with 5,827 exhibiting companies as well as 246,449 visitors, and Messe Düsseldorf Moscow held 13 trade fairs with 4,094 exhibiting countries and 200,489 visitors. In 2022, 14 trade fairs will be held in Russia and eleven in China – including the new event REHACARE SHANGHAI. Expecting 100 companies and about 8,000 trade visitors, it will serve as a local satellite event of Düsseldorf’s REHACARE INTERNATIONAL for the growing Chinese rehabilitation and nursing care market.

 

Continuous growth

   “By organizing thematically matching satellite events of the leading Düsseldorf trade fairs all over the world, we open new markets for our customers, create local platforms for emerging economies and attract new participants for our homebase in Düsseldorf,” says Wolfram N. Diener, who signed an agreement for extensive cooperation with FoodAfrica Cairo in December 2021. This trade fair is considered the most important platform for the food industry in Africa and its content is closely linked to that of the concurrently held pacprocess Middle East Africa.

 

   As early as 2019, Messe Düsseldorf already extended its Processing & Packaging portfolio around the world’s largest packaging trade fair interpack in Düsseldorf to include pacprocess MEA. “With our commitment to FoodAfrica Cairo we are now strengthening not only our presence in Egypt as a gateway to Africa and the Middle East. We are also expanding along the value chain – going upstream from the packaging to the food industry,” says Wolfram N. Diener.

 

   ProWein also recorded two new events in 2021: ProWine São Paulo and ProWine Mumbai. In addition, ProWine Hong Kong and ProWine Shanghai were held as part of the  “Wine & Spirits” portfolio. Together, they will lead up to the world's leading trade fair ProWein in Düsseldorf in May 2022.

 

   The Print Technologies portfolio around the leading global trade fair drupa will be extended in 2022 to include CorruTec Asia, the International Corrugated Technology Exhibition, which will be held for the first time in Bangkok as a platform for the corrugated board industry in October, concurrently with the eighth edition of Pack Print International. The other international events of drupa in 2022 will include printpack alger in Algeria, INDOPRINT in Indonesia, PACK PRINT PLAS PHILIPINES and ALL IN PRINT in China.

 

   The Plastics & Rubber portfolio revolving around the international plastics and rubber trade fair K will be complemented by the new COLOMBIAPLAST in Bogotá in September 2022. Already in late 2020, Messe Düsseldorf participated in the event which is among the most relevant international trade fairs for the plastics, rubber, petrochemical and packaging industries in Latin America. COLOMBIAPLAST is one of several trade fairs around the globe that sets the scene for the Düsseldorf K fair as the highlight: these also include ARABPLAST, held in November in Dubai, Interplastica in January in Moscow, CHINAPLAS in April in Shanghai and Plastics & Rubber Vietnam in June in Hanoi. K in October will not only be the world’s most important plastics trade fair but also the largest t event in the 2022 Düsseldorf trade fair calendar.

 

 

   For further information on visiting or exhibiting at any of Messe Düsseldorf’s worldwide trade fairs, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit www.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago

 

 

Messe Düsseldorf Group

Messe Düsseldorf is among the most successful trade fair companies worldwide. It hosts around 40 trade fairs including 20 leading international trade fairs at its 613,000 square meters exhibition center in Düseldorf, Germany. In the 18 halls the international market leaders and top decision-makers of various sectors get together every year in order to present and discover innovations, to exchange and network. The sectors of expertise of Messe Düsseldorf include: “Machinery, Plants and Equipment” (including drupa, K, interpack, glasstec, wire and Tube); “Retail, Trades and Services” (EuroShop, EuroCIS, ProWein); “Health and Medical Technology” (MEDICA, COMPAMED, REHACARE); “Lifestyle and Beauty” (BEAUTY, TOP HAIR) as well as “Leisure” (boot, CARAVAN SALON). In addition there are numerous conventions, corporate events, conferences and meetings organized by its subsidiary Düsseldorf Congress. Abroad, Messe Düsseldorf organizes 75 events and participations. The global network of the group of companies encompasses 77 foreign representatives for 141 countries – including 7 international subsidiaries.