Leipziger Messe successfully concludes its 2017 financial year

Leipziger Messe had a successful 2017 financial year: Sales of 87.1 million euros are higher than in the reference year of 2015 (79.9 million euros) and thus clearly exceeded the targets. With a total of 29 trade fairs in Germany, 178 congresses and events in the Congress Center Leipzig (CCL) and the KONGRESSHALLE am Zoo Leipzig, 64 guest and other events as well as three trade fairs abroad, the number of events has once again risen to 274. The Leipziger Messe Group of Companies welcomed over 15,500 exhibitors and over 1.2 million visitors to Leipzig and other national and international locations.

"The Leipziger Messe Group of Companies was able to continue its positive development in 2017. Thanks to the results of all divisions, they exceeded the targets," says CEO Martin Buhl-Wagner, expressing satisfaction with the past financial year. "Behind these impressive facts, especially the numbers of events, exhibitors and visitors, is a professional work ethic both on site and worldwide," adds CEO Markus Geisenberger.

With CCL and its five subsidiaries, Leipziger Messe has earned yet another award, "Service Champion" in the national trade fair sector. For the fourth year in a row Leipziger Messe was applauded for its ability to recognise the needs of visitors and exhibitors at an early stage and to meet expectations. With the 100th anniversary of its trademark in 2017, the group of companies not only celebrated the anniversary of a Leipzig landmark, but also the unique history of one of the oldest trade fair brands worldwide. The LED installation of a "100" on the conservatory high-rise building, visible far above the city, is striking.

Public favourites and innovation platforms in the first half of 2018

The kick-off to the 2018 trade fair year was marked by man's best friend and met with great success: The Leipzig Veterinary Congress with the vetexpo industrial exhibition and PARTNER PFERD recorded an increase in visitors. DreamHack Leipzig also recorded a significant increase in visitor numbers with a larger programme - and more than two million people followed the broadcasts of the eSports tournaments live on the Internet. Thanks to satisfied exhibitors and visitors, the trade fair association of HAUS-GARTEN-FREIZEIT and Mitteldeutscher handwerksmesse were once again some of the most popular events in all of Germany. The trade fair duo was complemented by Beach & Boat and the Forum Auto. The entire city experienced four literary and political days with the Leipzig Book Fair, its Leipzig Reads Reading Festival and the Manga Comic-Con, whose exhibition space was fully booked for the first time. The 271,000 visitors at the 3,400 events also discussed the limits of freedom of expression intensively. The CADEAUX Leipzig and unique 4+1 trade fairs were the spring kick-off for the specialist retailers and presented their latest collections of home and gift articles and modern technologies for the finishing and individualisation of products. The innovation platform OTWorld achieved an exhibitor record with more than 570 exhibitors from 43 countries. With 21,400 visitors from 90 countries, OTWorld was more international than ever before. At the CosmeticBusiness trade fair for the supplying industry in Munich, 419 exhibitors and companies from 19 countries - including around 70 new exhibitors - presented new ideas and solutions for the development of cosmetics products. This meant it was larger and more international than ever before.

Outlook: Mix of successful models and new products

With the trade fairs CADEAUX Leipzig and MIDORA from 1 to 3 September, the trade starts into the Christmas business. Shortly afterwards, on September 26 and 27, the third edition of CosmeticBusiness Poland will take place in Warsaw. The event is on course for growth: This year's trade fair is characterised by an expanded exhibition area and numerous new exhibitors. In Western Germany, the first therapie on tour will take place on September 28 and 29. Building on the successful concept of the therapie Leipzig, the Leipziger Messe will organise for the first time a trade fair with congress for physical therapists, massage therapists and balneotherapists in Bochum. The outlook is good, as the area is already almost fully booked. From October 5 to 7, the modell-hobby-spiel, a successful public fair, will set new trends in the fields of model making, model railway, creative design and games. The now 14th edition of the Designers' Open will take place from October 26 to 28 in the KONGRESSHALLE. From 8 to 10 November, the European Year of Cultural Heritage will feature a Leipzig trade fair duo under special conditions. Europe’s Leading Trade Fair for Conservation, Restoration and Old Building Renovation denkmal is considered one of three highlights of the cultural heritage year. And MUTEC, which is taking place in parallel, has already filled 90 per cent of the space (compared to 2016). On November 19 and 20, BGMpro, a new trade fair and congress for corporate health management, will celebrate its premiere in Leipzig. The platform was created for all central aspects of occupational health management and workplace health promotion and is based on a multilocation concept. This will be followed by the first event in Cologne on May 6 and 7, 2019. As a central conference for operators of critical infrastructures, protekt will take place on November 13 and 14. The conference and trade exhibition for energy management, services and networked systems, new energy world, invites the industry to Leipzig on December 11 and 12.

In keeping with its growth course, PARTNER PFERD will use the glass hall as an exhibition area for the first time at the beginning of 2019. Intec and Z will be hosting the first important meeting place for manufacturing technology in the metalworking and supply industry in Europe from 5 to 8 February 2019. The trade fair duo will then once again offer globally active companies as well as small and medium-sized companies an attractive marketplace. From March 7 to 9, 2019, a successful product from the medical sector will celebrate its tenth anniversary with therapie Leipzig. Leipzig, the city of music, will have a special premiere from November 1 to November 3, 2019 with the music experience fair musicpark. The public event is aimed at music enthusiasts, hobby musicians, music students and beginners who want to try out, buy or experience instruments live and takes place annually.

Joint success for the group: CCL and its subsidiaries

In the first half of 2018, the CCL hosted top-class medical congresses such as the LINC Leipzig Interventional Course and the German Congress of Radiology, specialist conferences, and important political conferences such as the International Transport Forum of the OECD. The 72nd German Lawyers' Day in September will also be Europe's most important legal congress. At the KONGRESSHALLE at Leipzig Zoo, a large number of regional and national industry meetings were held. Among other things, the location will host the greenmeetings and events conference in 2019. After receiving several awards in 2017 for its commitment to sustainability fairgourmet will be implementing new measures again this year. The number of trade fairs, congresses and business events in the books is consistently high. fairgourmet accompanies numerous traditional and new events in and around Leipzig as a catering partner, for example the Bach Festival. In the first half of the year, FAIRNET coordinated a large number of joint and individual presentations for new and regular customers at trade fair venues throughout Germany and Europe. In addition, the contracts included top-class congresses and industry meetings such as OTWorld at the Leipzig Trade Fair and at other locations. The second half of the year begins with the premiere of LEIPZIGER MARKT MUSIK. As an organiser, FAIRNET cooperates with the Krystallpalast Varieté, which has taken over the artistic direction of the open-air festival, the city of Leipzig and six Leipzig restaurateurs. The first six months of Leipzig Fair's guest events were marked by established guest fairs and events as well as new events. In June, the halls and open-air grounds will experience two special premieres: the New Apostolic Church's Youth Day and Pop Oratorio, and the Matapaloz Festival. Further innovations await the visitors in autumn, such as the "Fitness-Competition HYROX presented by PUMA". The Goldene Henne, the Super Grand Prix of dance professionals, and Disney on Ice are further attractive public events on the calendar for the second half of the year. Leipziger Messe International (LMI) is staging 46 German collaborations and national participations this year. This includes an increasing number of trade fair participations in the cosmetics sector, which are thematically closely related to the CosmeticBusiness. While joint participations will be held on all continents in 2018, preparations are also underway for the World Congress of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) in Japan in October 2019. The Russian Forum on Prosthetics & Orthotics will also take place again in June 2019. With 70 companies on 13,476 square meters, more than 97 per cent of the available office space in the MaxicoM Euro-Asia Business Center Leipzig is currently rented.

About the Leipziger Messe

The Leipziger Messe is one of the ten leading German trade fair companies and one of the top 50 worldwide. It organises events in Leipzig and at various locations all over Germany and abroad. With its five subsidiaries and the Congress Center Leipzig (CCL), Leipziger Messe is a comprehensive service provider covering the entire chain of the events business. It is due to this level of professionalism, that customers and visitors in 2017 voted the Leipziger Messe the service champion of the trade fair industry in Germany's largest service ranking for the fourth time in a row. The Leipzig fairgrounds comprise an exhibition area of 111,900 m² and an open-air exhibition area of 70,000 m². Every year, over 270 events take place – from trade fairs, exhibitions and congresses to events – with over 15,500 exhibitors and more than 1.2 million visitors from all over the world. Leipzig was the first German trade fair company to be certified according to the Green Globe standards. Sustainability is a recurring theme in the Leipziger Messe's corporate activities.