Koelnmesse defies economic instability and enters financial year 2025 strongly

The German trade fair and exhibition company Koelnmesse is demonstrating remarkable resilience in the face of today's economic challenges, reporting solid results for 2024 and promising prospects for 2025.

Impressive figures in an anniversary year

In its centenary year, Koelnmesse recorded a turnover of around €365 million and a profit of around €20 million, according to preliminary data. Although slightly below the initial forecast of €369.5 million, these results demonstrate the company's stability in a difficult economic environment.

More than 34,500 exhibiting companies from 106 countries and more than 2.1 million visitors from 197 countries attended the 76 events organized by Koelnmesse worldwide. Among the leading events in Cologne were the top international trade fairs ISM, spoga+gafa, gamescom, DMEXCO and ORGATEC.

"The 100th anniversary was an extraordinary year that reminded us of our origins and at the same time allowed us to look to the future," explained Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH, "Our results impressively demonstrate our stability and resilience in a challenging market environment."

Significant progress in infrastructure and sustainability

The year 2024 was marked by important advances in infrastructure development, international business expansion and implementation of sustainability initiatives. A highlight was the opening of the new Confex Conference and Exhibition Center, with space for up to 6,200 conference attendees and state-of-the-art technology.

Koelnmesse has also taken decisive steps towards transforming the entire company and its own events to become climate-neutral by 2030. Photovoltaic systems covering a total area of 20,000 square meters have been installed on the roofs of the halls. On the roof of Hall 11, Koelnmesse is operating the largest photovoltaic system inside Cologne.

Another important step: Koelnmesse is the first German trade fair company to be certified according to the ISO 20121 standard for sustainable event management.

Strategic international expansion

Koelnmesse strengthened its international presence through new partnerships and intensified activities in global markets. Since 2023, a total of 21 trade fairs have been implemented abroad, with eight premieres in 2024 and nine more scheduled for 2025.

A notable example of international expansion was the debut of the gamescom latam in São Paulo in June 2024, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors - the largest number ever recorded for a Koelnmesse event abroad.

Outlook to 2025

Koelnmesse looks optimistically ahead to 2025. Anuga, which will take place in October, is already fully booked, and both the trade fair duo FSB and aquanale, as well as IDS (International Dental Show) and INTERZUM have significantly over-registered for the same period of the previous event.

In addition to the ten debut events planned for 2025 in Germany and abroad, Koelnmesse has reorganized the events in the furniture and interiors sector. From 2025, the company will offer two specialized trade fair formats: idd colognea platform for the high-end sector, which will take place every two years in October, and imm cologne, a B2B event for the consumer-oriented market, to be held annually in January from 2026.

"With a clear focus on our strengths and the support of our dedicated teams, we are ideally positioned to continue our success story," concluded Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse.

Industry-wide recognition

Last but not least, Koelnmesse has been named "Company of the Year" in both 2024 and 2025, taking first place among all German trade fair companies - a double recognition of its exceptional performance in the sector.