The structural and economic challenges to German trade fairs

The German trade fair business is facing a decline for the first time since early 2001, having displayed a positive trend throughout the 1990s. In an empirically based study, the Ifo Institute examined whether this decline was cyclical or whether the German trade fair system is facing fundamental structural challenges. The results showed that the number of exhibitors decreased by ca. 1% per annum at German trade fairs between 2001 and 2004. This was due to the smaller participation of German firms in the observation period by an average of ca. 5% per annum. In contrast, the number of exhibitors from abroad increased clearly. A comparable development was determined for trade fair visitors with a decline in visitors from Germany and an increase in foreign visitors. The pattern in trade fair visits is clearly cyclical. On the other hand, the decision to exhibit at a fair is not only made out of economic considerations but also because of structural factors. Among these are globalisation, changes in the firms themselves, and the competition faced by trade fairs from other media.