On the basis of preliminary figures, Koelnmesse generated a turnover of around 365 million euros and a profit of around 20 million euros in 2024, the year of its 100th anniversary. ‘Our 100th anniversary was an extraordinary year, one that reminded us of our origins while also helping us to look ahead,’ explains Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH. ’Our results impressively demonstrate stability and resilience in a challenging market environment.’ For Koelnmesse, 2024 was marked by significant progress at the Cologne exhibition centre, the expansion of its international business and the issue of sustainability. Highlights included the opening ceremony of the new event and congress centre Confex, further international strategic expansion and pioneering measures to align the entire company and its own trade fairs with the conservation of resources by 2030.
According to the preliminary figures, Koelnmesse generated a turnover of around 365 million euros in the 2024 event year. This means that it fell slightly short of its own planning of 369.5 million euros in the event year, which is traditionally weaker. The net profit is expected to be around 20 million euros, following a record operating result of 42 million euros in the previous year. Koelncongress, the wholly owned subsidiary responsible for the guest event, congress and event business, contributed a preliminary 38 million euros before consolidation to the group turnover in 2024.
The company attributes the slight deviation from the revenue planning to several factors. These include the ongoing consumer slump, the general economic stagnation and geopolitical uncertainties. ‘Trade fairs always reflect the markets in which the exhibitors operate - and these markets are currently under immense pressure,’ said Gerald Böse, summarising the past financial year. ‘The challenges of the market have challenged us, but they have also encouraged us to make our processes even more efficient and to open up new trade fair markets,’ says Böse, looking ahead to the coming years.
In 2024, the trade fair industry also faced challenging conditions that put considerable pressure on Germany as a trade fair location and its previously established standards – such as infrastructure, transport and punctuality. In particular, the repeated warning strikes in local public transport – four in the first quarter alone – noticeably affected the travel and mobility of trade fair visitors and exhibitors. ‘These disruptions not only led to logistical problems, but also cast a negative light on the reliability of the infrastructure, which is otherwise considered one of the strengths of our trade fair location,’ said Gerald Böse.
More than 34,500 exhibiting companies from 106 countries and over 2.1 million visitors from 197 countries took part in the 76 events held by Koelnmesse worldwide. The trade fair highlights in Cologne included the leading international trade fairs ISM, spoga+gafa, gamescom, DMEXCO and ORGATEC. ‘Our annual events in 2024 were all able to reach the level of the previous year's events, and we maintained or even improved on the excellent level of 2023,’ said Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, summarising the trade fair year 2024. ’Last year, we performed significantly better at our biennial events than we did in 2022.’
Looking ahead
Koelnmesse is looking ahead positively to 2025: Anuga in October is already fully booked and the number of registrations for the FSB and aquanale trade fair duo, the IDS (International Dental Show), and INTERZUM is already significantly higher than it was at the same time before the last event.
At the same time, Oliver Frese emphasised the challenges of the coming trade fair years: ‘Many exhibiting companies remain loyal to us, but due to the existing cost pressure, some are planning with smaller exhibition areas. This means that our events will continue to grow, but not as fast as originally expected. This requires us to plan ahead and be flexible in order to continue to create an attractive offering.’ In the coming year, Koelnmesse plans to continue to set the course for sustainable event development and the opening up of new markets. ‘With a clear focus on our core strengths and the support of our dedicated teams, we are ideally positioned to continue our success story,’ Frese concluded. In addition to a total of ten premieres planned in Germany and abroad in 2025, Koelnmesse is redesigning its furniture and interior design events in 2024 in collaboration with the furniture industry. From 2025, two specialised trade fair formats will be offered: the idd cologne, a platform for the high-end sector that will take place every two years in October, and the imm cologne, a B2B event for the consumer-oriented market that will be held annually in January starting in 2026.
Strategic steps in internationalisation
Another focus in 2024 was the targeted strengthening of the international presence. Through new partnerships and an intensification of activities in global markets, Koelnmesse has taken the internationalisation of its business to a new level. This progress is reflected in new locations and event formats that make the Koelnmesse brand even more visible worldwide. For example, a total of 21 trade fairs have been implemented abroad since 2023, with eight premieres in 2024 and nine more currently planned for 2025. An outstanding example of the international expansion of successful Cologne formats: gamescom latam celebrated its premiere in São Paulo in June 2024, attracting over 100,000 visitors, the highest number ever recorded for a Koelnmesse event abroad.
German Pavilion 2025: Expertise for a sustainable future
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Koelnmesse is contributing its expertise and extensive Expo experience to the organisation of the German Pavilion in 2025, the fourth time in this millennium. With a focus on the circular economy, the pavilion presents innovative approaches to sustainable construction – impressively embodied by the circular buildings themselves, which serve as an exhibit for circular construction.
Grand Opening of Confex: A milestone for the future
One of the highlights of 2024 was the inauguration of Confex, Koelnmesse's new event and congress centre, as part of the anniversary celebrations. With space for up to 6,200 congress participants and state-of-the-art technology, Confex sets new standards for events and is a symbol of Koelnmesse's innovative strength and forward-looking approach. ‘The Confex stands for the continuous development of our infrastructure and underlines the pioneering spirit that has characterised Koelnmesse for a century,’ said Gerald Böse. The booking figures already available for the coming years underline the fact that the Confex is in line with the times and successfully fills a gap that has been repeatedly described in the congress and corporate event business of the city and region.
Sustainability: industry leadership
In 2024, Koelnmesse also made decisive progress towards its goal of making the entire company and its own events more climate-neutral from 2030. Photovoltaic systems with a total module area of 20,000 square metres were installed on the roofs of the halls at Koelnmesse. On the roof of Hall 11 alone, Koelnmesse operates the largest inner-city photovoltaic system in Cologne. At the same time, the conversion to a geothermal heat supply for the entire exhibition centre began, with completion scheduled for 2028. Another milestone: Koelnmesse was the first German trade fair company to be certified according to the ISO 20121 standard for sustainable event management.
Koelnmesse ‘Company of the Year’
In 2024 and 2025, Koelnmesse was named ‘Company of the Year’ by DEUTSCHLAND TEST and FOCUS MONEY in a study conducted by the Institute for Management and Economic Research (IMWF). The company once again achieved the highest score, securing the top spot among all German trade fair locations for the second year in a row – a further independent confirmation of its commitment and reputation as a company.
‘There is no question that 2020 was a challenging year. Nevertheless, we managed our business affairs soundly, achieved important successes and pushed ahead with innovations. Our sustainable investments in the future of the company and the industry are already bearing fruit. This means that we are well positioned to approach the coming years with confidence,’ said Gerald Böse, taking stock of the situation.