Messe Stuttgart

Stuttgarter Messe now offers 54,650 square meters (588,000 square feet) of exhibit space, and the company is faring well. But its new trade fair center, opening in October, will feature another 100,000 sq. m. (1 million sq. ft.) of exhibit space, and the Stuttgart community is excited.

Officials laid the new facility's foundation stone June 15, 2005, at the site, which is adjacent to Stuttgart Airport. Total cost of the project: €806 million ($1.1 billion).

According to Messe Stuttgart Finance Director Roland Bleinroth, the company recorded an operating profit of €1.9 million ($2.5 million) in 2006, well above the its goal for the year. Compared with the weak financial performance of 2005, revenue in 2006 rose by 27 percent to €61.0 million ($82 million).

The number of exhibitors in Stuttgart increased by 22.5 percent to 10,719, and the number of visitors by 5.5 percent to about 970,000. The company hit the 20-percent mark for foreign exhibitors for the first time in 2005–'06.

Ulrich Kromer von Baerle, chairman of the board of management for Messe Stuttgart, said there were practically no more dates available in 2008 at the new trade fair center already. Messe Stuttgart is aiming to become the long-term market leader in Europe, he added.

Like other German messes, Stuttgart also organizes its own events abroad, such as R+T Asia and GIMT + AMB in China, Intervitis Interfructa in Chile and South Africa, and INTERBASS in Moscow.

Also, Messe Stuttgart's 34 worldwide representatives are primarily responsible for attracting the 2,500 foreign exhibitors and approximately 150,000 international visitors that participate each year in events in Stuttgart.

At home, Messe Stuttgart's 2007 shows include the Congress for Safety and Automation, MondoItalia, MiNaT, Schweisstec, Blechexpo, 1st Slow Food, Motek, Composites Europe, Semicon Europa, parts2clean, Pferd Stuttgart and a new entertainment section of Familie & Heim.

Shows coming to Stuttgart for the first time in 2008, or after a long absence, will include medical events Lasys and TopClinica, Interschau, Dach+Holz Intl., Control, the Idea Park of the ThyssenKrupp Group and o&s (surface coating). Didacta, for education and training, will again take place in Stuttgart in February after a two-year absence.

Organizers are planning many festivities and large-scale live events to coincide with the opening of the new trade fair centre Oct. 19–21. There will be an opening exhibition called Innovation Meets Emotion, which will be divided into six subject areas that reflect the trade fair and exhibition portfolio of Messe Stuttgart: culinary, automotive, health, technology, lifestyle and leisure, and finance. That will be rounded out with a concert on Oct. 20.

About 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the free events over the course of the three days. Stuttgart's new Intl. Congress Centre also opens Oct. 19.

The new trade fair center's Hall 1, its largest exhibit hall, is multifunctional and offers a gross display area of 25,000 sq. m. (269,000 sq. ft.) It can also be used for company events, party conferences and other large events. Although the hall is surrounded by windows, it can also be fully darkened.

Hall C2, which can hold up to 4,900 people, can be partitioned into three sections and used for conferences, accompanying exhibitions or catering.

Each of the seven exhibition halls will offer 10,000 sq. m. (100,600 sq. ft.) of exhibit space.

All the halls will be accessible from the entrances at the Fair Park and the gallery level. The new trade fair facilities and conference center are the hubs of a large new town square, which is also the site of a planned train station.