Messe Stuttgart closed 2022 with positive results

For the first time after the start of the corona pandemic, Messe Stuttgart ended a financial year with positive results and will stage 60 events in Stuttgart alone in 2023. The trade fair and exhibition calendar will therefore be fuller compared with the pre-corona period. The business model is being strengthened by new events in the area of the most important future technologies and by the formation of a subsidiary in India. The extension of the commitment to sustainability will also be continued dynamically. Messe Stuttgart announced this during the traditional Annual Press Conference.

"2022 was the turning point for the trade fair and exhibition industry in Germany, and for Messe Stuttgart in particular," said Roland Bleinroth, President of Messe Stuttgart. "Thanks to the extraordinary dedication of our colleagues, a surprisingly strong comeback was achieved in the second half of 2022. With several new trade fairs and exhibitions that focus primarily on future technologies, the company emerges from the pandemic with an enhanced product portfolio. The company's commitment was also strengthened outside its own location and in the area of sustainability."

Substantial rise in turnover produced the first profit since the start of the pandemic

In spite of the pandemic-related ban on events that was in force in the first quarter of 2022, Messe Stuttgart was able to organise a total of 48 trade fairs and exhibitions with 596,086 visitors and 13,358 exhibitors in 2022," said Stefan Lohnert, President of Messe Stuttgart. "Messe Stuttgart generated a turnover of €122.7 million in 2022, i.e. well above expectations. The development of the trade fair and exhibition business was also reflected in the profit before leases and tax, which was also much higher than expected at €6.6 million."

The positive examples in 2022 included AMB, International exhibition for metal working, which was sold out and attracted large numbers of visitors for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Events such as südback, Trade fair for the bakery and confectionery trades, VISION, World's leading trade fair for machine vision, and hy-fcell, International exhibition and conference for the hydrogen and fuel cell community, which was staged by Messe Stuttgart on its own for the first time, reached visitor and exhibitor numbers at pre-pandemic levels. New products were also included: the first GrindingHub, the new platform for grinding technology, occupied 4 halls right away and was awarded very good marks by trade visitors.

60 events in Stuttgart: full trade fair and exhibition calendar again in 2023

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Messe Stuttgart has in 2023 a well-filled event calendar for an uneven year – 60 trade fairs and exhibitions will be staged in Stuttgart alone. The events in the second half of the year include, for example, the new hy-fcell, the new product Quantum Effects, Bondexpo and Motek, SÜFFA, Messe Stuttgart's Autumn Trade Fairs and Comic Con Stuttgart.

At the start of the year, there were no official restrictions for the first time since 2020: the holiday exhibition CMT regained its former strength with around 265,000 visitors after two events had to be cancelled in the previous years. Messe Stuttgart's Spring Trade Fairs in April were actually extended from six to twelve trade fair topics. didacta, Europe's largest trade fair for education and training, also celebrated a comeback at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Center this year. Over a period of five days, education and training trends were the focal points of interest among the 56,000 visitors. The new product Volta-X was another highlight. This new international platform provided answers to burning questions relating to the change to alternative energy sources.

Strengthening of the business model in Stuttgart and elsewhere

Volta-X showed that trade fairs are very important in regard to changes in the energy supply sector or in the mobility industry. In order to do justice to important future topics, Messe Stuttgart has created a new "Future Technologies Team" which is responsible not only for Volta-X but also for the new products hy-fcell and Quantum Effects. Business has also been strengthened outside Stuttgart. With REISEN & CARAVANING Hamburg, Messe Stuttgart not only successfully staged the leading holiday exhibition in north Germany in February for the first time, but also actually set a participation record. The CMT network, which also includes the holiday and caravan exhibitions in Leipzig and Nanjing/China, was therefore expanded.

The takeover of NORTEC in Hamburg also points in the same direction. Together with the long-standing trade fair partner, i.e. the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW), new customer bases in the area of production technology will be developed in north Germany. This commitment is being supported by the network around AMB and the specialised trade fairs in the field of automation.

The increased involvement of Messe Stuttgart outside its own location is also reflected in the establishment of another subsidiary, i.e. "Messe Stuttgart India Private Limited". The reason for this is Messe Stuttgart's geostrategic assessments for important industries. The new and broad trade fair and exhibition portfolio includes the cooperation with the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturing Association (IMTMA) which stages IMTEX, the largest Indian trade fair for machine tools. Messe Stuttgart will host the trade fair topics CastForge and Moulding Expo (MOLDEX India) concurrently with IMTEX in January 2024. The new subsidiary will also organise LogiMAT India for the first time at the end of February 2024 in New Delhi. Messe Stuttgart therefore has subsidiaries in a total of four countries: China, India, Türkiye and USA.

Messe Stuttgart increasing its efforts to promote sustainability

In looking to the future, Messe Stuttgart regularly examines its own CO2 footprint. Together with ClimatePartner, a renowned supplier of climate protection solutions, the footprint is calculated every year and potential CO2 reductions are derived in order to invest in emission-reducing measures. These measures include new sustainable mobility offers such as the free "Deutschland-Ticket" for employees or charging points for e-bikes and pedelecs. In addition, there are photovoltaic systems on the trade fair grounds and the roof of the Bosch multi-storey car park. These systems cover a total area of 43,400 square metres and annually generate around 3.63 million kilowatts of solar energy (2021), i.e. enough to supply over 900 four-person households for twelve months. Projektgesellschaft Neue Messe (ProNM) is responsible for the photovoltaic system, which feeds all the generated solar power into the electricity network.

As part of the "Energy Master Plan" Project, ProNM identified new potential areas in which further photovoltaic power plants could be operated economically. These areas include other roofs, the truck pool on the edge of the trade fair grounds and the exterior roof trusses of several exhibition halls. It is also planned to install a photovoltaic system on the roof of the administration building. Messe Stuttgart is also intending to switch the hall lighting entirely to LED, increase the e-charging infrastructure, improve the colour coding system for effective waste separation and continuously extend the infrastructure in the area of digital signage.

You can find further information about Messe Stuttgart and its event calendar here: www.messe-stuttgart.de