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Just in time for its 100th birthday, Koelnmesse sets a new sales record: Gamescom & Co. once again brought more than €400 million into its coffers.
After trade fair cancellations and deep red numbers as a result of the Corona lockdowns, Koelnmesse is making one “brilliant upswing” Hin: The Cologne trade fair company is reporting new records for sales and profits for 2023. 67 trade fairs and conferences at home and abroad generated €416 million – the result is €42 million. For comparison: in 2022 sales were still €240 million. Koelnmesse boss Gerald Böse speaks of one “impressive comeback” and the return “to its old radiance”.
More than 37,800 companies from 126 countries took part in the Koelnmesse events; the number of visitors is estimated at 1.7 million. With an average of 1,106 employees, the workforce was slightly higher than in the previous year.
However, the financial setbacks and other effects of the pandemic will keep Koelnmesse busy for years to come: individual measures of the Koelnmesse 3.0 investment program have been postponed.
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Nevertheless, the trade fair company is optimistic about the current 2024 season, for which 70 formats and sales of around €370 million are planned. The trade fair highlights in the second half of the year at Koelnmesse include the Spoga+Gafa garden fair, the digital marketing event Dmexco and of course Gamescom 2024 from August 21st to 25th (tickets, opening times, exhibitors). With an officially reported 320,000 participants, Gamescom 2023 was able to match the pre-Corona numbers and was in third place in the list of the largest trade and public trade fairs behind the IAA Mobility (Munich) and Agritechnica (Hannover).
The official ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Koelnmesse is planned for June 28th – NRW Prime Minister Henrik Wüst (CSU) has confirmed his participation. The new congress and event center Confex, which will be used for the Devcom developer conference during Gamescom week, will also be inaugurated on this day. The high-tech building includes 22 conference rooms and a multifunctional hall for more than 6,000 people – the dates for 2024 are already set “largely fully booked”.
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