Munich: A German Economic Powerhouse

Last week, Trade Fair Trips kicked off an informative tour through Germany’s top cities for trade fairs along with an explanation why trade fairs in Germany are increasing in popularity. Now that we have the statistics for the country out of the way, it’s time to head to our first destination on our short, but comprehensive list – Munich.

To understand why this city draws in some of the world’s most important and heavily visited trade fairs and exhibitions, we need to look into the city itself. First of all, Munich finds itself smack dab in Central Europe, which shortens flights for people from other major European cities such as Vienna, Budapest, Paris, London, Brussels and many more.

The exciting location combined with a superior infrastructure and highly-qualified workforce transforms this metropolis into an irresistible temptation for corporations. It’s no surprise to find high-tech industries present from IT companies to media, finance, communications and life science giants present. Where industry leaders are present, trade fairs flock!

And Messe München is more than prepared to host them! As an expo centre, Messe München is an international leader as well given it hosts roughly 40 trade fairs annually across a variety of sectors and industries. 14 of these are of international significance. This averages to about 30,000 exhibitors per year.

How do they land this number? It’s easy – the building is spacious, the service is exceptional and technical installations are continuously updated to meet exhibitor and visitor needs. The expo centre invests a lot in stand planning and construction, catering, logistics and stand equipment. Messe München also takes privacy, products and brands protection, and anti-plagiarism very seriously with a general photography ban set in to protect exhibitors from industry espionage.

EXPO REAL: This annual trade fair for real estate and investment has been bringing in business, trends and solutions to the sector’s most pressing challenges since 1998. October is going to see the latest edition with over 1700 exhibitors and 37,000 trade visitors in a potent business-to-business environment, where networking rules supreme. Apart from meeting a number of high-profile project developers, managers, investors and financiers, there’s the impressive conference with over 100 sessions.

ELECTRONICA: Scheduled for this November, this trade fair covers trends, solutions and innovation in the electronics industry. With close to 3000 exhibitors and over 73,000 visitors, the event has cemented itself as one of the most significant for the sector, where you know the newest semiconductors, sensors, plug connectors and displays will debut. The Fast Forward Start-up Platform and Award are exquisite opportunities to gain recognition.

BAU: Innovation rules at this trade fair, which focuses on the bright future of building, construction and architecture. The key words here are sustainability, practice-oriented and ecologically-friendly. Next January is set to bring in more than 2,000 exhibitors and 250,000 visitors to discuss the latest techniques, materials and applications that can be put to use in actual practice. The over 300 lectures as part of the interdisciplinary exchange are also a great plus to visiting.

ISPO MUNICH: Showcasing the strong trade fair traditions in Munich is this event that has been going strong for close to 50 years, which now expects on average 80,000 visitors and 2600 exhibitors covering the cutting-edge products and trends in outdoors, ski, action, health, fitness and performance sports. Next year’s edition has already been scheduled for February. If you’re in the sports goods industry, this event should be circled in your calendar for its cross-selling potential and high visibility for participating brands.

Our tour through Munich’s history as an economic centre and trade fair host has come to an end. We hope you’ve found useful information for your purposes and if you haven’t see a fair for your industry, be sure to give us a call or a line at our contact page and we’ll send you a suggestion in Munich or any other city you might prefer.

Next week, we’re heading to Frankfurt, a great bustling metropolis sitting by the Main River!