Smaller than it used to be, but more diverse and creative
How Hannover has changed over the last 75 years as a trade-fair location, and what kind of events it offers today. There are so many future fields. Addressing them a real challenge. Hannover is well set to do so.
“We believe in the future of the large world-leading trade fairs, but we are making adjustments to these being smaller events in future”, says Jochen Köckler optimistically; he is the Chairman of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG in Hannover, speaking during an interview with the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper (on 21 May 2022) in the run up to the Hannover Fair 2022. After the fair was cancelled in 2020 due to Corona, 2021 saw a digital version of the world-famous show. But now at last it was possible to welcome around 2,500 exhibitors from 60 countries in Hannover. It transpired that the most important thing for everyone is to have direct contact with each other. It is so much easier to talk about the turning point in international economic policy, the security of supply and climate protection when sitting directly opposite the other person and not staring at a Zoom screen. 200 of the exhibitors in Hannover offered solutions for the hydrogen sector. Where else in the world can everything be visited live with just a few steps in next to no time?
How Expo 2000 improved the image
75,000 people crowded into the halls on the four days of the fair. Less than before the pandemic, but even so, this showed that strong trade-fairs with cutting-edge technology still have a magnetic appeal for providers and customers. Hannover Fair has been a firmly established item in the diaries of world market leaders since 1957. The 75th jubilee was appropriately celebrated in 2022, with cautious optimism in terms of new chances on the world markets. The state of Lower Saxony and the City and Region Hannover, as the bodies behind Deutsche Messe AG today, are proud of their economic locomotive. The prerequisites for holding a trade fair with tens of thousands of visitors are ideal. These include its location at the heart of Europe, good connections by train, air and car, local public transport with trains stopping directly in the exhibition grounds, and also the many innovative hotels.
Everything has grown slowly and gradually in line with rapidly changing requirements. One aspect that emerged almost incidentally during the World Expo held here on the exhibition grounds in 2022 and the adjoining new Expo park on Kronsberg, is that the people living in the city and Region Hannover are excellent hosts and also very kind and helpful.
It was definitely a mammoth task to host the whole world during the ongoing five-month event with participants from 155 countries and 18 million visitors – a task that was dealt with admirably. It led to a sustainable, positive transformation of the city and region’s image, with implications also for Hannover as a trade-fair location. Even the motto in 2000 “Humankind, Nature, Technology – a new world arising” seemed seminal.
Information
For more information about Deutsche Messe, go to
www.messe.de
For more information about the Hybrid Event Hub, go to
https://www.messe.de/de/event-ausrichten/locations/hup/
Selection of trade fairs in Hannover in 2023 (selection)
January: DOMOTEX – The World of Flooring
February: abf – fair for active leisure
March: digitalhealth-PRO – Digital Health Industry Ecosystem
April: Hannover Fair
May: Labvolution – trade show for innovative laboratory equipment and the optimization of laboratory workflows
September: EMO Hannover – the world of metalworking
Hannover as catalyst for access to the world market
As a result, trade-fairs could almost be taken for granted in the following years, at least in terms of attendance figures and the volume of contracts that were concluded. In retrospect, many now realise that it was initially often small companies that attended events in Hannover, which have now grown over the years to become giants in their field. Deutsche Messe AG therefore acted as their catalyst on the way up. Many companies all over the world are grateful for this today.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Messe AG has been constantly transforming and improving what it offers. It provides first-class trade-fair service: personal, digital and customer-friendly. The infrastructure is highly flexible. Companies appreciate this in these times of upheaval, particularly as it is not just the big shows that matter. Köckler states clearly in the interview: “The times when a Cebit and a Hannover Fair were almost all we needed have long gone.” Now it’s a case of offering a diverse range of events and creating constantly new settings for the global innovation contest.
Logistics, energy, electromobility – all key markets
Eleven new events have been scheduled for 2022, according to the trade-fair boss. These include the property trade fair Real Estate Arena or the Micromobility Expo. And there are already around 50 trade fairs and events covering almost all sectors of the economy. A look at the trade-fair diary for 2022 reveals for example the CeMAT – world-leading fair for intralogistics. Transport and traffic, energy and electromobility are areas of increasing significance. The IAA Transportation as the leading fair for mobility, transport and logistics fits in perfectly with this category. At the same time, Hannover’s trade-fair organisers also have an eye on other locations. Annual milestones include the Chengdu Motor Show and the Wuhan Motor Show in China, or the China Commercial Vehicles Show. Trucks are also presented at a trade fair in the USA.
The Interschutz as the world-leading trade fair for firefighting, rescue services, civil protection and safety and security also attracts large numbers of visitors, with offshoot events in the USA and Australia. Although the international business of Deutsche Messe used to be bigger in scale, now all of a sudden, trade-fairs held in locations such as Mexico or Turkey are being more successful than expected. But the focus is once more on China. After the many lockdowns, there are great hopes of returning to the former role.
Young people to the fore
One particular jewel in Hannover’s trade-fair crown is the two-yearly IdeasExpo – the biggest youth event for science and technology. This event was held for the first time in 2007 and has meanwhile become established as an ideal platform particularly for young talent and all creatives. The big players are also increasingly aware of how important it is to approach school students in their role as future employees and customers.
This also applies at second glance to RehaCare, the leading trade-fair for the care sector. Although this sector serves the elder generation, it urgently needs young people from all over the world who are willing to work in this field and face up to its requirements. Deutsche Messe AG also addresses medical topics with “besser schlafen” (sleep better) or the International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians. The German Skin Cancer Congress on the other hand is held at HCC Hannover Congress Centrum in the city park. The city hall with its cupola is one of the most striking buildings in Hannover and ideally located on Messeschnellweg, near Eilenriede forest and the zoo. The neoclassical cupola built between 1911 to 1914 was created in the style of the Pantheon in Rome. It offers seating for 3,600 people, making it ideal for conferences, specialist fairs, shareholder meetings, music events or major political event and is used intensively. From here it is only a few steps to the Congress Hotel am Stadtpark, with one of the upper floors offering not only prestigious suits but also a swimming pool and sauna with a view over the city of Hannover.
The new Hybrid Event Hub – with five streaming backdrops
But back to the exhibition grounds with their 3.5 million square metres of exhibition space. The largest solar system in the region is located on a 35,000 square meter roof area. It is operated by the municipal energy supplier Enercity, the main customer of the solar power is the Sparkasse Hannover. CEO Volker Alt is proud that this covers half of the electricity requirement. And right at the heart of the grounds offers fascinating visual effects and possibilities. The smart urban location in hall 18 is a new feature with five permanently installed streaming backdrops and state-of-the-art technology. The Hybrid Event Hub (H’Up) is an online platform that anyone can use for on-site communication parallel with the rest of the world at their screens. It almost doesn’t matter whether it’s the long-standing EuroBLECH (International Sheet Metal Working Technology Exhibition) or the EuroTier (world’s leading trade fair for animal farming and livestock management). No sectors of the economy are left out in Hannover. This puts new life into the slogan seen by passengers arriving by air at Hannover Airport: Welcome to the International Trade Fair City.
Header picture: panoramarx/stockAdobe.com
