The leaders of the global trade fair industry are currently meeting at the UFI Global Summit in Milan, Italy. An important date for Chris Skeith, OBE, who took up his new post as CEO of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry in January. In this interview, the new CEO explains what his first projects are and how Europe can learn from the new trade fair markets

This year, German trade fair organisers are planning 325 trade fairs in almost 40 countries, significantly more than in the previous two years. All dates can now be found in the AUMA trade fair database.

After more than 20 years, the Global Congress of the International Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) was once again held in Germany. It was hosted by Koelnmesse, which also chaired the Country Focus Session on trade fairs in Germany together with AUMA. More than 550 trade fair experts from 55 countries were in attendance.

The International Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) has now published the "Euro Fair Statistics 2023" report. It contains key figures on more than 2,000 trade fairs in 17 European countries, including data on Germany from the FKM Association.

The global trade fair industry is recording record sales, leaving behind the deep trough caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Sales growth of 20 and 17 per cent is expected for 2023 and 2024 compared to the previous year. This is according to the latest edition of the Global Exhibition Barometer published by the International Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) at the beginning of August.

The global trade fair industry has fully recovered from the pandemic in most markets. On average, sales in 2023 have reached a comparable level to 2019. This is according to the latest survey by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), which was completed in January.