Nr. 11/2010 EU share of exhibitors at German trade fairs rises Italy the country most represented, followed by China 24.08.2010 In 2009, due to the global recession, the focus of exhibitor attendance at German trade fair venues shifted towards the EU. In some cases there was a double-digit drop in participations from countries in Eastern Asia and from Russia. These are the results of a survey carried out by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA). In 2009 the number of exhibitors from major countries of the EU contributed to the German trade fair industry remaining relatively stable. The number of exhibitors from the EU fell by only 2 %; by contrast, overall foreign participation at 2009 exhibitions averaged 5 % less than at corresponding events in previous years. Exhibitor numbers from Italy, the UK and the Netherlands remained almost the same, while there was even a slight increase in numbers from France. However, participation by exhibitors from Spain fell by 7 %, and from Greece even by 16 %. Clearly the financial and economic crisis has had a serious impact here. Figures for Poland and the Czech Republic, the most important EU countries in the east, also remained more or less the same. Measured against the overall number of exhibitors from abroad, the share of exhibitors from EU countries rose to 54.1 %, from 53.4 % at previous events. Among non-EU countries in Europe the picture was very diverse. The number of exhibitors from Russia fell to only 700, a drop of 38 %, with numbers from Ukraine falling by almost 20 %. However, despite the recession some Balkan countries registered significant increases, although in these cases earlier numbers were already low, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia being two examples. On average exhibitor numbers from the Middle East remained practically the same. Israel’s presence was the largest and its 473 exhibitors attended 78 trade fairs. It was followed by the United Arab Emirates, whose 300 exhibitors represented only a 5 % drop in attendance. Compared with corresponding events in previous years, overall par-ticipation from the countries of Southern, Eastern and Central Asia was down by about 5 %. There were 4 % less exhibitors from China, 19 % less from Hong Kong even, and 12 % less from Taiwan. In 2009, compared with earlier events, there were 13 % less exhibitors from Japan, 8 % less from Thailand and 14 % less from Malaysia. By contrast, participation from India, Pakistan and Vietnam rose slightly. There were 4 % less exhibitors from the USA, whereas there was a slight increase in participation from Canada. Exhibitor numbers from South America also grew slightly, which have now reached almost 2,300. Compared with earlier events there was a moderate drop in participation from Brazil and Argentina, and conversely a slight rise in numbers from Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador. As in recent years, the country with the largest number of exhibitors at international trade fairs in Germany was Italy (10,977 participations), which gained even more ground on second-placed China (7,888, excluding Hong Kong). They were followed by France (5,033), the UK (4,570), the Netherlands (4,453), the USA (4,380) and Spain (3,918). Combined, these seven major countries represented more than half of all the exhibitors from abroad. The following nations were represented by at least 2,000 exhibitors: Austria (3,337), Switzerland (3,108), Taiwan (2,540), India (2,472), Belgium (2,179) and Turkey (2,000). Press contact: Harald Koetter, phone: +49/30/24 000-140, fax: +49/30/24 000-340, email: h.koetter@auma.de download eps-file Share of exhibitors at German trade fairs 2009 Veröffentlichung kostenfrei Beleg erbeten / Publication free File copy requested Copyright © 2010 AUMA_Ausstellungs- und Messe-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft e.V. Last update: 8/2010