The Guest Events division again made a positive contribution to our annual result with 31 trade fairs, festivals, sports and other events.
Golfers, coffee merchants and art fans. Brides-to-be, bikers, postal workers, HR specialists, carers and politicians. Expecting parents, retailers, aviation experts, job seekers and potential students. Medical professionals, marketing experts, ship brokers and athletes – many different people and professional groups came to the Hamburg exhibition center in 2018 to swap notes and collect information, to buy, to discuss and to have fun together.
Our guest event organizers particularly appreciate the attractive, central exhibition grounds, with their flexible halls and hospitality, as well as the know-how and service quality of the professional HMC and CCH teams. And so many organizers of guest events have been loyal to Hamburg Messe und Congress for many years.
One popular guest is the striking Hanse Golf, for example, which is mostly sold out. Golf fans came to find out all about the sport for the 16th consecutive time in 2018 and actively experience the swings and putts of the game. The golf event of the year in north Germany regularly attracts over 17,000 visitors and more than 200 exhibitors from 15 nations to Hall A4 on the grounds of the Hamburg Messe und Congress.
Five years of Nordstil Regional Order Days in Hamburg
A long-standing relationship also exists between HMC and Messe Frankfurt, the organizer of the Nordstil Regional Order Days Hamburg. It has now been held for five successive years – once at the start of the year and once in the summer. Visitors to Nordstil are retailers from north Germany and neighboring countries. The two exhibition companies from Hamburg and Frankfurt recently renewed their partnership agreement for another five years.
On your marks, get set, go, for the hella hamburg halbmarathon
2018 marked the start of the first hella hamburg halbmarathon. The meeting of the event organizer “BMS – The Running Society” has moved to our grounds in order to give the larger number of half-marathon participants more space. Here there is plenty of room for the registration desks, restrooms and showers, food and drink stands, winners’ podium, an accompanying exhibition and an entertainment program catering to some 4,000 runners.
Meeting place for marketers
The Online Marketing Rockstars Festival 2018, the meet-and-greet for the European digital and marketing sector, was a hit again in 2018. Stars of the industry, hidden champions and top acts delivered new contents and insights. But there was plenty of time for fun and networking also. Bottom line: the organizers were pleased to receive more than 40,000 visitors.
Take off: 2019, another year of jubilees
In April 2019 the 20th edition of Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) was younger and more modern than ever. The international trade fair for aircraft interior design started with almost 100 exhibitors in Cannes, before relocating to Hamburg in 2002. There was a good reason for that, because Hamburg is one of the leading centers for the aviation industry. In 2008 the British company Reed Exhibitions took over the controls of the AIX, in cooperation with the HMC. For the jubilee exhibition there were more than 550 exhibitors and about 260 airlines on board. Around 18,500 professional visitors were ready for take-off. The Passenger Experience Week took place concurrently with the AIX, featuring the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo, the Passenger Technology Solutions and the Passenger Experience Conference.
On the road: bikers keep coming
Two months beforehand the HMT Hamburger Motorrad Tage celebrated their 25th jubilee. The fair for bikers, and everyone who wants to become one, is a guest of ours every year. That makes it the oldest guest exhibition for the general public to take place on the HMC grounds. Eckhard “Ecki” Stürck, the CEO of the organizer DiCoNgroup, started out with 8,000 square meters of floor space and 55 exhibitors. Now he fills more than 33,000 square meters and welcomes some 300 exhibitors. If it depends on him, the HMT will continue for at least the next 25 years. The contract for the next five years has already been signed anyways.
