Hamburg Messe

Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, has the country's largest port, connecting it with Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic Sea. Hamburg is home to a metropolitan population of 3.5 million, and 41 of Germany's top 500 companies.

Hamburg Messe & Congress is a comprehensive tradeshow and convention facility located in the heart of Hamburg. It's on the doorstep of a high-speed train station, and within short walking distance of Downtown Hamburg's shops, hotels, theaters and restaurants.

HMC is currently undergoing an expansion that is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. According to plans, the expanded facility will offer 11 exhibit halls with approximately 84,000 square meters (904,100 square feet), as well as 27 conference rooms with 1,640 sq. m. (17,650 sq.ft.) of space. Owners have invested around €360 million ($484.7 million U.S.) in the project.

In 2006, the facility was enlarged with a 7,000 sq. m. (75,300 sq. ft.) multifunctional hall that seats up to 16,000. This summer, an expansion of the exhibition facility was completed. It now offers 12,000 sq. m. (129,100 sq. ft.) of exhibit space.

HMC has added exhibit space to its congress centers and congress space to its tradeshow halls, based on the belief that unifying both sides of the business will provide better service to customers and create savings.

HMC is not only growing in terms of its size, but also in terms of revenue. It reported record sales of €60.6 million ($81.5 million) in 2006, up almost 10 percent from 2004. (The company makes biennial comparisons because so many of its shows are biennial.) HMC aims to boost its sales in 2007 by as much as 11 percent compared with those in 2005.

The exhibit halls are connected to the convention center, Congress Center Hamburg, by a covered passage through the Planten un Blomen park. It's a five-minute walk from tradeshows to meetings, where the new CCH boasts Europe's largest rooftop garden with 40,000 plants.

Bernd Aufderheide, HMC managing director, said, "We're targeting our growth strategy on the sector clusters that Hamburg is also promoting: the maritime industry and, above all, aviation, medical technology and life science, new energies and science."

According to the company, the 41 trade fairs and events held in Hamburg in 2006 attracted about 1 million visitors. Overall, 12,791 companies exhibited in events there. HMC's own 12 events featured 7,309 exhibitors, including 2,246 from outside Germany, accounting for approximately 31 percent of the total.

HMC's portfolio includes major international trade fairs such as SMM for the maritime industry, Internorga for the hotel and restaurant trades and major exhibitions drawing more than 100,000 visitors, such as hanseboot.

The 29 guest events the facility hosted in 2006 included Aircraft Interiors Expo and ITL, Intermodal Transport & Logistics.

At the 208 World Exhibition in Zaragoza, Spain, HMC will organize the German pavilion on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology for the first time. Last year, HMC organized more than 20 joint presentations outside Germany and has 25 foreign offices with representatives in 40 countries.