Messe München: record results to provide a boost for the mega trade fair year 2025

In 2024, a regular financial year without bauma, the company generated consolidated sales of EUR 488 million and an annual result of around EUR 70 million. Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) came to EUR 141.9 million. “Both sales and income have reached new heights for our group. Thanks to a clear strategic focus and a healthy core business, Messe München is growing from its own resources in Germany and abroad, even in this challenging economic and global environment,” the two CEOs Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel said at the annual report presentation. “The figures prove the profitability of our business.” The generated profit provides momentum for the mega trade fair in 2025 and will also be used to further develop the Munich location.

A total of 16 events hosted by the trade fair center and 93 guest events contributed to its business success, attracting around 1.3 million visitors to Munich-Riem. These events generated a purchasing power effect of EUR 3.4 billion, benefiting the hotel, restaurant and taxi industries in particular. And then there were the around 730,000 Adele fans who watched the British superstar's spectacular concerts at the trade fair center over ten evenings in August 2024.

Messe München’s own events in 2024 reached an unprecedented level of internationality: 36 percent of attendees in Munich traveled from outside Germany. Nearly 60 percent of the companies represented at the shows were based abroad. The largest exhibitor contingents came from Germany, China, Italy, and the U.S.

Internationalization as a driver of growth

The record result in 2024 is also thanks to Messe München's profitable international activities, with a total of 47 events abroad attracting 22,600 exhibitors and around 1.2 million visitors.

Activities on the Chinese market play a particularly important role here. Almost one million visitors attended 25 events at Messe Muenchen Shanghai and its venues in 2024, where they met more than 16,000 exhibiting companies. And India is another important growth market: group subsidiary Messe Muenchen India more than doubled its sales in 2024 over the previous year. Events such as electronica India and productronica India, bauma CONEXPO INDIA and IFAT India contributed to the success of 2024, making Messe Muenchen India the second largest trade fair company in India.

The total sales of all group companies, both in Germany and abroad, amounted to around EUR 200 million. Messe Muenchen Shanghai contributed more than EUR 128 million in 2024, making it the most successful financial year since its founding. With Messe München GmbH's sales of around EUR 337 million, this results in a total of EUR 537 million, which means consolidated sales of EUR 488 million.

“We will continue to pursue our strategy of international expansion and diversification and make targeted investments in growth markets such as North America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” commented Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel. 2025 was the first time Messe München organized analytica USA in Columbus and transport logistic Americas/air cargo Americas with a new partner in Miami. And in January 2026, Messe München will be holding its first trade fair in Saudi Arabia: IFAT Saudi Arabia.

Midway through the mega trade fair year 2025

For Messe München, the ongoing 2025 business year is shaping up to be a record-breaking trade fair year. Eight of the twelve world's leading trade fairs as well as IAA MOBILITY and a total of around 80 guest events take place in Munich—an event that only occurs once every twelve years. Some highlights from the first half of the year:

• BAU: Well over 180,000 visitors attended the world’s leading trade fair for architecture, materials and systems. The trade fair center was fully booked. For the first time, over 50 % of exhibitors came from abroad.
  
  
• INHORGENTA: More than 1,300 brands from 38 countries showcased their products at the leading trade fair for jewelry, watches and gemstones. Thanks to an increasing interest in high-priced products, INHORGENTA was able to consolidate its role in the premium and luxury segment.
  
  
• f.re.e: Together with the International Motorcycle Exhibition (IMOT), Bavaria's largest travel and leisure fair attracted over 120,000 visitors. Around 1,000 exhibitors from 48 countries presented trends from the travel and leisure sector.
  
  
• bauma: The world's largest trade fair in terms of space attracted around 600,000 visitors from over 200 countries and regions to Munich. 3,601 exhibitors from 57 countries showcased their latest machines, technologies and innovations on a total of 614,000 square meters of exhibition space.
  
  
• transport logistic: Attracting 2,722 exhibitors from 73 countries and over 77,000 visitors from more than 130 nations, the show underlined its position as a leading international trade fair. The proportion of international exhibitors rose to 65 percent. The exhibition was opened by the new Federal Minister of Transport, Patrick Schnieder.
  
  
• Laser World of Photonics: The world's leading trade fair for photonics components, systems and applications achieved a new exhibitor record: over 1,350 companies from 43 countries covered the entire spectrum of photonic technologies. This year, Anne L'Huillier and Ferenc Krausz, two Nobel Prize winners in physics, were guests at Europe's largest photonics congress, held in conjunction with the trade fair.
  
  
• automatica: the leading exhibition for smart automation and robotics took place at the same time as Laser World of Photonics in 2025. From June 24 to 27, around 800 exhibitors from 40 countries presented their innovations across the entire value chain.

Including the participants of guest events such as The smarter E Europe (2025: 107,000 visitors) and the ESMO Breast Cancer Congress (2025: 3,600 visitors), Messe München already welcomed over 1.3 million visitors in the first half of the mega trade fair year 2025—as many as in the entire previous year.

For the year 2025 and at its Munich location alone, Messe München therefore expects around 2.5 million visitors and sales exceeding EUR 500 million. This goes hand in hand with a forecast record indirect profitability of around EUR 5 billion, with 80 percent of these purchasing power effects being generated in Munich and Bavaria.

Despite all the challenges: economy indicates growing confidence in the future

Economic and global conditions are demanding, posing a challenge for key sectors and industries. However, apart from the figures, the year to date has been characterized by a slight increase in optimism among exhibitors. Ongoing exhibitor surveys show: although companies assess the current economic situation as worse than at the previous year's events, the confidence and economic outlook is improving when looking at the next two years. “Reflecting the industrial value chains and the most important key industries, our trade fairs are also a reflection of the economic situation. The positive sentiment we are currently experiencing in the exhibition halls and the large number of innovations show the potential for new beginnings in the economy," the two CEOs Pfeiffer and Rummel reported. “Global crises and economic challenges call for networking instead of isolation, making trade fairs more important than ever as they serve as a platform for exchange.”

Messe München invests in the future

Messe München is independently investing profits generated in 2024 in the continued development of its Munich-Riem location. Just in time for bauma, a new bridge was opened that connects to the 5.4-hectare multifunctional site in Feldkirchen. Additional pedestrian and bicycle bridges over the A94 highway and Münchner Straße are currently in the planning stages.

The 300,000-square-meter northern open-air exhibition area is undergoing a comprehensive technical upgrade. This includes installing new transformer stations, modernizing the power supply system, and updating utility lines. The photovoltaic (PV) systems on the hall rooftops are being expanded further as well. On January 1, 2025, Messe München took over a 1 MWp system on the A halls from the previous investor. Starting in 2027, new PV units with a combined output of 2 MWp will be installed on the roof of the renovated parking garage.

In addition to these major investment projects and ongoing maintenance expenses, Messe München is allocating an additional EUR 10 million in 2025 to modernization and energy efficiency initiatives. This includes switching to LED lighting, renovating restrooms, and modernizing food service areas.