COLOGNE, GERMANY — Koelnmesse GmbH (Koelnmesse) is celebrating 100 years of business in 2024.
To commemorate this milestone, the company will open a new conference and exhibition center named Confex at its Cologne convention center complex. This cutting-edge venue has a capacity of more than 6,000, 22 conference rooms and a multifunctional exhibition hall, and is almost fully booked for 2024.
Confex will host the 2024 UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry Global Congress from November 20-23.
“That’s really a wonderful way of celebrating our anniversary, and hosting the global industry at the same time… We are constantly upgrading our convention center to make it very, very attractive, and our goal is to remain among the top ten trade fair organizers in the world,” Mette Petersen, Koelnmesse Inc. President and Managing Director said.
Founding and History
Konrad Adenauer, who was Cologne’s Mayor and later became Chancellor of Germany, established Koelnmesse in 1924, and opened its first exhibition grounds in the city.
“He was the one who really had the vision of founding the convention center and creating the trade fairs, in order to help provide stability in Europe at the time. It was shortly after the First World War. The whole political and economic situation was very volatile, and his vision was really to bring business and politics together in order to help improve the economy,” Petersen explained.
As part of the centennial celebrations, Gerald Böse, President and CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH, visited its Cologne fairgrounds with some of Adenauer’s descendants this year.
Koelnmesse found continual success through the 20th century, and grew into one of the largest trade show companies in the world. In 2002, it established its U.S. subsidiary, and currently has other subsidiaries in Columbia, Brazil, China, Singapore, Italy, India and Japan.
“Our [U.S.] subsidiary is now 22 years old. We’ve been in Chicago all along, and just like our headquarters, we have weathered the storm of the pandemic. We were able to keep all of our employees on board, which I’m very excited about, because we have a really excellent team of employees who’ve been with us for basically the last 20 years,” Petersen added.
Related. h+h Americas Breaks Records in 2024
H+h americas, the North American version of Koelnmesse’s iconic h+h cologne handicraft trade fair, launched in 2022 and has grown with each successive show. Its 2024 edition served cake on the show floor to celebrate Koelnmesse’s centennial.
Koelnmesse reported record sales in 2023, earning 416 million euro, a more than 70% increase, with 67 events worldwide, more than 37,800 exhibiting companies from 126 countries and more than 1.7 million attendees from 217 countries. Creative savings measures, a new digital strategy and international expansions helped fuel this impressive growth.
“Adaptability really is the key, to follow the developments going on. Whether it’s economic or political or, as we know recently, with the pandemic, we’ve been able to take new directions and be adaptable, to really meet the needs of our customers,” Petersen shared.
2024 and Beyond
Koelnmesse was named “Company of the Year” 2024 by DEUTSCHLAND TEST and FOCUS MONEY, based on a study conducted by the Institute for Management and Economic Research.
It is also accelerating its sustainability practices with an innovative traffic management system, climate neutral stand construction concepts and eco-friendly energy sources to become carbon neutral by 2030, five years earlier than initially planned. A new partnership with E.ON and RheinEnergie will switch the Cologne complex’s heating supply to climate-friendly technology by 2028.
In total, these efforts are expected to save 5,800 tons of carbon dioxide every year.
Petersen expects Koelnmesse to add more fairground improvements, expand into a new office building in Cologne and continue working with local and international partners to grow its portfolio into the future.
“We are really well positioned for future growth and for hopefully the next 100 years,” she said.
Reach Mette Petersen at m.petersen@koelnmesse.us.
