Koelnmesse reports a successful 2024 trade fair year, with a turnover of EUR 365.8 million, a profit of EUR 21.3 million, and a total of 76 events in Cologne and worldwide. The company was able to further consolidate its position as one of the leading international trade fair organisers. A particularly encouraging development was that the company’s subsidiaries in Germany and abroad made a significant contribution to the positive overall result.
Ongoing Success
Koelnmesse remains resolutely on course for growth in the current year. The new Confex conference and exhibition centre, international premieres, major contract extensions, and new digital services strengthen the company’s structure and offering.
“Our growth shows that those who invest courageously, remain innovative, and consistently focus on the future will be rewarded even in a challenging market environment,” says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH. “We create value for our partners, exhibitors, and visitors – both at our own trade fair grounds in Cologne and worldwide.”
In 2024, Koelnmesse welcomed over 2.1 million visitors from 197 countries and more than 34,500 exhibiting companies from 106 nations. The trade fair highlights in Cologne included the leading international trade fairs ISM, spoga+gafa, gamescom, DMEXCO, and ORGATEC.
In addition, numerous contracts with leading international trade fairs were extended long-term, including DMEXCO, gamescom, IDS, spoga horse, and the trade fair duo FSB and aquanale. This was due in part to the extensive investments in the Cologne location as part of the Koelnmesse 3.0 modernisation and development programme.
The company’s planned investment of more than one billion euros in the Cologne site by 2040 marks a clear commitment to its domestic business. By upgrading the site and regularly expanding digital infrastructures, it is laying the foundations for reliable partnerships with an international appeal. “The trade fair grounds, with their excellent transport connections and unique proximity to the city centre, are highly attractive by global standards for the more than 2.5 million guests who come to us from 220 countries every two years,” emphasises Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse.
Foreign business 2024: Koelnmesse expands its international presence
International business also developed dynamically in 2024, with Koelnmesse successfully establishing eight new events and significantly expanding existing trade fair formats. This strengthening of international presence is primarily due to targeted activities in key markets and the expansion of strategic partnerships. Koelnmesse has organised a total of 21 new trade fairs abroad since 2023, with nine more scheduled for 2025 – clear evidence of the increasing global reach of the Koelnmesse portfolio.
An outstanding example of a successful globalisation strategy is Gamescom Latam. After its celebrated debut in São Paulo in June 2024, which welcomed over 100,000 visitors, Gamescom Latam confirmed and further expanded its success in 2025. Koelnmesse has had a subsidiary in Brazil since 2014 and organises three other successful events in the country: the Anuga Select Brazil food fair, and the trade fair duo FIT 0/16 and Pueri Expo for children’s equipment and clothing.
A look at the current financial year: sales growth and new business
“In the current financial year, Koelnmesse is aiming for a new sales revenue record with a turnover of around EUR 450 million,” says Böse. But he also stresses: “The economic situation remains challenging, and small and medium-sized enterprises, which traditionally use trade fair appearances as a gateway to the world, are under considerable pressure. Of course, we feel that too. Increased costs, bureaucratisation, and trade and customs policies are having a negative impact on investment and consumer sentiment, and not just in Germany. We are also noticing this pressure when it comes to our own costs and therefore expect earnings to remain where they were in 2023 at most.”
Important impetus for the forecast growth will come from numerous premiere formats overseas and successfully acquired new business at guest events and conferences. Another key success factor is the Confex conference and exhibition centre, which only recently opened in 2024 and has plenty of bookings until 2030. Above all, conferences in newly introduced fields and initial booking success for renowned medical conferences are opening up additional market potential and strengthening Koelnmesse’s position in the event and conference segment in the long term.
Koelnmesse has a total of 82 events planned for 2025. These include 60 of its own events. Of these, 39 trade fairs are to be held abroad, eight of which are celebrating their premieres: interzum Jakarta, International Hardware Fair Indonesia, International Hardware Fair Saudi Arabia, FSB Sports Show Riyadh, ORGATEC WORKSPACE Saudi Arabia, ORGATEC India, DMEXCO Asia, and Labotec (Parma).
“level35”: a clear path to sustainable growth
“We did our homework during the coronavirus period and after the pandemic and are now benefiting from this as trade fair business normalises,” says Böse. “At a time of great uncertainty, we reduced expenditure, postponed investments, and made adjustments where necessary. At the same time, we are continuously reviewing how we work and focusing on making processes leaner and more efficient.”
Koelnmesse will continue to build on these pillars over the next ten years. With its new corporate strategy, “level35”, the trade fair company is pursuing the goal of becoming one of the top five trade fair companies in the world, with its own venue, by 2035 in terms of both turnover and profit. “We already achieve this in the strong, odd-numbered trade fair years,” says Frese, “but our ambition is to raise sales and profits to top international levels in the weaker, even-numbered years.”
Further stabilisation of sales and earnings across even- and odd-numbered years is necessary in order to reduce the debt incurred during the pandemic by 2030 and increase sales to such an extent that acquisitions and investments can continue to be made from our own resources. “This is the only way Koelnmesse can keep pace in a very dynamic trade fair market and hold its own against the global competition,” explains Frese. “True competitiveness comes from investment, digitalisation, and the reduction of unnecessarily complex processes that slow down the pace of our innovation.”
Profitability, sustainability, customer focus, and internationality are the central pillars of “level35”. Koelnmesse intends to achieve the necessary growth primarily by optimising the occupancy of the trade fair grounds in Cologne, significantly increasing the number of analogue and digital services, and consistently expanding its own and guest events in Germany and abroad.
Sustainability: Koelnmesse’s leading role in the industry
From 2030, Koelnmesse aims to operate the entire company and its events in a climate-neutral manner (Scope 1 and 2 emissions). This means that all greenhouse gas emissions caused directly by the company itself (Scope 1) and all emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2) will be reduced to net zero. In the 2024 financial year, the company set an important course and achieved key milestones. Photovoltaic systems with a total module surface area of 20,000 square metres were installed on Hall 1, Hall 11, the South Entrance, and the newly opened Confex. The conversion to energy-efficient LED lighting and the expansion of the e-charging infrastructure in the trade fair’s car parks have also made noticeable progress. The switch to a geothermal heating and cooling system for the trade fair grounds is also in full swing and is planned to be put into operation in 2028.
