Messe Berlin

Located in Germany's capital at the inner-city Berlin Exhibition Grounds, Messe Berlin covers 160,000 square meters (1.7 million square feet) of space. Its additional outdoor area measures 100,000 sq. m. (1 million sq. ft.), making it the fifth largest trade fair facility in Germany.

According to Messe Berlin officials, it's among the 10 leading trade fair companies in the world in terms of revenue. The company's 2006 revenue was €168 million ($227.8 million).

In 2006, Messe Berlin employed 500 people and produced 115 trade fairs and exhibitions in Germany and abroad, which served 28,000 exhibitors (66 percent from foreign countries) and 1.8 million visitors.

In Berlin, the facility hosted 15 guest exhibitions, 32 of the company's own trade fairs and 771 smaller conferences and meetings in 2006. Combined, they attracted more than 170,000 participants.

The Exhibition Grounds are connected, both architecturally and organizationally, with Europe's largest convention facility, the Intl. Congress Center, or ICC Berlin. It offers 5,600 sq. m. (60,200 sq. ft.) of exhibit space.

Leading Messe Berlin trade fairs include IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited, ITB Berlin — Intl. Tourism Exchange, IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited, Intl. Green Week Berlin, Fruit Logistica Intl. Trade Fair for Fruit and Vegetable Marketing, bautec — Intl. Trade Fair for Building and Construction Technology, ILA — Intl. Aerospace Exhibition Berlin-Brandenburg and InnoTrans — Intl. Trade Fair for Transport Technology.

Other major events are Wasser Gas Berlin, the Intl. Fair for Contemporary Art, Art Forum, music and entertainment show Popkomm, water sports exhibition Boot & Fun and Import Shop Berlin.

Messe Berlin also produces overseas exhibitions such as the international tourism fair TheTradeShow in Orlando and Las Vegas, Asia Fruit Logistica in Bangkok and Water Sofia.

Through its subsidiaries, Messe Berlin offers a wide range of tradeshow services:

• MB Capital Services provides services for exhibitors, visitors, and convention organizers and participants. Its main activities include exhibit design and building, technical support for exhibitors, ticket sales, registration, sponsorship sales, event management and the full spectrum of convention arrangement services.
• MB Capital Services also manages the Virtual Market Place, an Internet-based platform for communication and information for customers and business partners.
• Capital Facility, in which Messe Berlin and the companies Hochtief and GegenbauerBosse hold shares, operates technical services for trade fairs and conventions in Berlin.
• Capital Catering operates catering facilities on the trade fair grounds, such as the Palais am Funkturm and the Funkturm Restaurant. Capital Catering supplies conferences at ICC Berlin with everything from snacks to gala dinners. It can plan and stage buffets and balls, and offers comprehensive catering services.
• In 2005, Messe Berlin acquired a series of regional events from the M&A Luebeck group and created a new entity called European Fairs & Exhibitions. EFE organizes 70 trade fairs and exhibitions with a total of approximately 8,300 exhibitors.