A recent study shows the decisive contribution trade fairs make to sustainability and efficiency in business life. On behalf of the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA), almost 3000 people were surveyed in order to analyse the added value of trade fair visitors in more detail. The results emphasise that personal encounters at trade fairs not only make good business sense, but also ecological sense.
A central point of the study is the avoidance of additional business trips. On average, trade fair visitors save more than five individual journeys per day. Visitors from South and Central America or the Middle East save up to 12 trips on average. The quality of business contacts also emphasises the importance of trade fairs. Over 60% state that their contacts cannot be made in the same depth and quality digitally. On average, visitors recorded more than 13 business contacts per day. Informal discussions to initiate business and networking took centre stage, closely followed by product discussions and contract negotiations.
With around 330 trade fairs a year at 70 locations between the North Sea and Lake Constance, Germany is a leading global trade fair centre. The high internationality of the events – two thirds of the exhibiting companies and one third of the trade visitors come from abroad.
The results of the study make it clear that trade fairs not only promote innovation and exchange, but are also indispensable as efficient and sustainable platforms in economic life. Our industry will continue to work on organising trade fairs as sustainable, low-emission meeting places – and thus set the course for a future-proof trade fair industry.
