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.

Visa waiting times for international exhibitors and visitors who want to take part in trade fairs in Germany are still too long in many countries. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) this July and August among the foreign representatives of German trade fair organisers. AUMA analysed over 60 responses from more than 30 countries requiring visas. There is no sign of a significant easing of the situation compared to last year's survey.

After the summer break, business life begins again this week at around 70 trade fair centres in Germany. 130 trade fairs are planned for the second half of the year. The Gamescom computer games trade fair in Cologne will kick things off. AUMA takes positive stock of the first half of the year.

More than 100 trainees are starting their careers in the German trade fair industry these days. Event management assistants, event technology specialists and IT specialists are the most sought-after job profiles among trade fair organisers.

Regional trade fairs in Germany have overcome the coronavirus crisis. Around 36,000 exhibiting companies took part in the 132 regional trade fairs in Germany in 2023. This is over 70 percent more than in 2022. They occupied a stand area of almost 1.13 million square metres (+ 61 percent) and attracted the interest of 3.9 million visitors (+ 86 percent).

One year after the entry into force of the unitary patent system, the European Patent Office has already recorded 27,000 registrations of corresponding patents. The Unitary Patent will take its place alongside national and European patents and will be valid in all participating member states.

Berlin, 18 July 2024 // International visitors are returning to Germany as a trade fair venue with an impressively large presence. AUMA, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, has now calculated the participation of exhibiting companies and visitors from abroad and the most important countries of origin for 2023.

Alliances are becoming stronger and cooperation between trade fair organisers is on the rise. This is one of eight current trends in the trade fair industry in Germany, according to the recently published annual publication "AUMA Trends 2024/2025" by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA.

The German trade fair industry is confident about the second half of the year and 2025: almost three quarters of organisers expect their trade fair formats to develop at least as well or even better than the international competition.

The EU Commission has decided to increase visa fees from 80 to 90 euros. The fees for obtaining a visa for the Schengen area were first increased from 60 to 80 euros in 2020. The reason given for the increase is the EU-wide inflation rate over the last three years.