Confex: a mix of conference and exhibition centre

Koelnmesse concluded its second year of the pandemic with a "respectable result," according to the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Cologne's Mayor Henriette Reker, at the annual press conference. 35 of the 68 events planned worldwide could take place in 2021 - many with a good level of success, but in some cases with significantly reduced participation. Last year's turnover reached more than 130 million euro, and the loss was limited to around 80 million euro.

IDS 2023: Anniversary event convinces all along the line

A successful anniversary event was the International Dental Show IDS, which came to an end on Saturday, 18 March 2023, after five intensive trade fair days. The leading international trade fair for the global dental industry celebrated its 100th birthday this year and was also held for the fortieth time - with an impressive turnout among exhibitors and visitors: around 120,000 trade visitors from 162 countries came to Cologne to find out about the comprehensive range of dental medical and dental technology products presented by 1,788 exhibiting companies from 60 countries.

APS: Europe's number one sourcing platform convinces with a first-class offer and high-quality visitors

International, high-quality, diversified: Over the three days of the fair, Asia-Pacific Sourcing (APS) impressively confirmed its position as the largest sourcing platform outside of Asia from 28.02.-02.03.2023. 500 exhibiting companies from 13 countries presented new products, innovations and trends of Asian tools and products from the house, garden and leisure sector on exhibition space spanning 17,100 m². Hence, APS offered buyers from Europe and America – especially considering the current geopolitical situation – a unique opportunity to access the Asiatic offer and establish valuable business contacts to the Far East.

Study on the future of trade fairs

What will the future of trade fairs be like? What goals do exhibitors pursue when participating in a trade fair? And how can trade fair teams best help their exhibitors to optimise their trade fair experience? Koelnmesse addressed these and other questions about the future of trade fairs in an academic study in partnership with the University of Münster. The results show that exhibitors still want the physical trade fair format.

Koelnmesse 2022: despite difficult times, full programme

Koelnmesse ultimately managed to achieve a successful re-start. "We expect turnover of around 237 million euro for the fiscal year and have made significant gains compared to the previous year," says Koelnmesse President and Chief Executive Officer, Gerald Böse. "Although almost none of the trade fairs have returned to their pre-Covid-19 size, the upward trend shows that we are on track to regaining our former strength."

Confex – the new multi-talent

Flexibility, attractiveness and eventization are the emerging requirements for innovative event formats. The fusion of conference and exhibition, the staging of topics through a more compelling variety of experiences, the digital presentation of hybrid trade fairs through the use of sophisticated media technology and modern IT infrastructure: That is what Confex is all about!

A career at Koelnmesse

Help us impress! As an employer, Koelnmesse offers you a wide range of opportunities.

Koelncongress: C the Future

Under the motto "One face to the customer", Koelncongress as an innovative full-service division will in future contribute its strengths under a new name. The wholly owned subsidiary Koelncongress GmbH presents itself as an organization with creative, strong concepts and solutions. It stands for innovative and successful future trade fairs, conferences and events.

Trade fair halls and exhibition center

Koelnmesse's exhibition halls are centrally located in Cologne's city centre, right at the heart of Europe's largest economic region.

At Koelnmesse we are closely following current developments in Ukraine, as the people of all nations around the world. The Russian attack stands in absolute opposition to our own values. As a trade fair organiser, we stand wholeheartedly for peaceful coexistence and free trade around the world.

The war has caused tremendous uncertainty and commotion regarding unrestricted service provision, monetary transactions and passenger transport between Russia, Belarus and Europe or Germany in particular. We are therefore initially suspending the participation of Russian and Belarusian exhibitors on our physical and digital platforms until further notice. However, we remain in contact with our partners in Russia, some of whom have been with us for many years and who unfortunately cannot attend our trade fairs now in Cologne. We are certain they have also been surprised by the decision to engage in war.

At Koelnmesse, we are particularly happy that everyone in our sales team in Kiev is doing well under the circumstances.