Messe Düsseldorf eyes new opportunities in the exhibition and trade industry post Covid

In pre-Covid times, business events from small academic conferences to giant trade shows routinely attracted more than one billion participants each year. However, the pandemic brought those global gatherings to a sudden halt, emptying convention centers and shuttering hotels.

A report by Statista notes that as a result of the pandemic, annual revenues from the global exhibition and trade show industry declined by 68 percent in 2020 as compared to the previous year. This crisis has also affected more than two million jobs in the industry worldwide that year.

Today, as borders open up and travel resumes, the exhibition and trade industry is returning in full force. However, experts have cautioned that whilst in-person events have resumed, the industry and landscape that we one knew has shifted, making way for new opportunities.

#biztechasia catches up with Sabine Geldermann, Director drupa and Global Head Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, one of the world’s most prominent trade fair organisers with a 70 year history behind them. During the conversation, Sabine shares insights on how the pandemic has impacted and shifted the landscape of the trade and exhibition industry including trends that will set the stage for the future of this industry.

Additionally, she touches on:

Her role Messe Düsseldorf and what it entails.
How the pandemic has now shifted the trade fair/exhibition landscape.
Measures that have been put in place to ensure continuity during Covid.
The 8th edition of Pack Print International which returned to Thailand and what attendees can expect to experience.