NürnbergMesse future looks bright thanks to record-breaking sales and unprecedented investment

In 2024, its 50th anniversary year, the NürnbergMesse Group gave itself an incredibly special present, thanks to record-breaking sales revenue of around €368 million. Measured against the KPIs for exhibitors, visitors and square metres, the company substantially outperformed the previous record figures from before the pandemic. To be able to continue this positive development and make NürnbergMesse fit for the future, the exhibition company invested the unprecedented sum of €100 million in 2024: “We are making the most of the tailwind from the highly successful anniversary year to make targeted investments in our exhibition grounds in Nuremberg, our worldwide event portfolio, and our IT and AI capabilities,” says Peter Ottmann, CEO of NürnbergMesse Group: “Despite the lower number of events in 2025, we are expecting a consolidated revenue of around €350 million, the highest in an odd-numbered year to date.” 

In 2024, the NürnbergMesse Group organised 154 events worldwide (2023: 177; 2022: 155), attended by 33,196 exhibitors (2023: 28,135; 2022: 23,457) and about 1.6 million visitors (2023: 1.3 million) on a display area of some 1.2 million square metres (2023: 904,466 square metres). This led to record-breaking revenues of €367.8 million in 2024 (2023: €265.1 million; 2022: €257.1 million), broken down as follows: NürnbergMesse and partner events (40%), MesseService (trade fair services) including domestic subsidiaries Holtmann and Lehrieder (25%), international subsidiaries (18%), and guest events and NürnbergConvention (17%). In fiscal 2024, the NürnbergMesse Group generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €56.8 million (2023: €28.4 million; 2022: €32.3 million) and a year-end result of €23.6 million. 

Unprecedented investment in modern and sustainable exhibition grounds  

Backed by record sales in its anniversary year, NürnbergMesse invested the unprecedented sum of €100 million, among other things on sustainable infrastructure for its exhibition centre. This included building its own photovoltaic system on the roofs of Halls 3 and 11, the PV modules on top of the multi-storey “Nord” car park, and a battery storage system with an output of around 7 MWh that is already operating. In the next phase, solar panels will be installed on the roofs of Halls 7A and 12 in 2025. The eco-friendly solar power generated in-house at the exhibition centre is currently being used for example, to power 119 electric charging stations, 68 of which were built in 2024. Another 60 charging stations are set to follow in 2025, making NürnbergMesse one of the trailblazers for electric charging infrastructure in the German trade fair industry. The energy-efficient refurbishment and modernisation of the new “NXT74” employee centre is scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2026, allowing all employees to move from their temporary location in Lina-Ammon-Strasse to the new work environment at the exhibition centre.  

Investments in event portfolio in Nuremberg and worldwide 

The Nuremberg exhibition venue hosted 71 of the company’s 154 events in 2024, an average of 1.3 events a week (2023: 82; 2022: 84), of which 26 were trade fairs (2023: 26; 2022: 24), 19 congresses (2023: 25; 2022: 31) and 26 other events (2023: 31; 2022: 29). The international subsidiaries of the NürnbergMesse Group held a total of 55 events (2023: 61; 2022: 44).  

Through the acquisition of WEKA Fachmedien GmbH, now operating as componeers GmbH, NürnbergMesse has not only ensured that the embedded world trade fair will continue to be held in Nuremberg in the long term, but is also forging closer links between the trade fair and media businesses to be able to offer its customers more added value in future and continue to grow. WEKA’s German and international media, B2B conferences, congresses, forums and in-depth seminars on professional electronics and ICT also expand the NürnbergMesse portfolio. 

Despite a persistently challenging market environment in many sectors, the exhibition company reported stable participation in its own and partner events in the first six-month period of 2025. ALTENPFLEGE, the recently acquired trade fair for the care sector, made its debut as a NürnbergMesse event and boasted impressive growth in all KPIs. The European Coatings Show also reinforced the argument that trade fairs are indispensable platforms for various industries, especially in times of crisis. The trade fair for paint and coatings, which primarily attracts visitors from the automotive and construction industries, saw a 20% increase in exhibitors. Enforce Tac, the trade fair for internal and external, reinforced its growing importance for the defence industry with an around 40% increase in exhibitors and visitor numbers that were up by more than 50%. 

Customer service 

At more than €70 million, services made a substantial contribution to overall revenues in 2024. In this context, NürnbergMesse is committed to having a strong network of service partners and in 2025 is investing in the reorganisation of online sales processes with a shop environment for its customers that will go live in the second half of fiscal 2025. Simultaneously, the company is systematically expanding its data and AI capabilities to tap into new potential and improve its competitiveness. 

Personnel 

The workforce increased slightly yet again to 1,246 employees in the NürnbergMesse Group (2024: 1,181) and 585 in the GmbH (2024: 580; in both cases as at 30 June). The NürnbergMesse Group currently employs 46 apprentices and dual track students and eight trainees as part of its strategy to encourage the next generation of its trade fair professionals.  

Outlook 

Thanks to the good and in some cases very good level of registrations for the trade fairs to be held in the autumn, as well as a new brand identity that focuses on the importance of personal interaction at both onsite and online events, NürnbergMesse is looking optimistically at the second half of fiscal 2025. The growth trend continues unabated, for example in the case of the it-sa Expo&Congress. An additional exhibition hall for this trade fair for IT security with a display area of 2,300 square metres is already fully booked. KOMMUNALE, Germany’s largest trade fair for public administration and municipal supplies, will feature a third hall for the first time in 2025. A new addition to the exhibition venue in Nuremberg is Interlift, the world’s leading trade fair for the lift industry, which will be held in October as a guest event by AFAG. Internationally, many events are already exceeding expectations. The Construlev Expo, a trade fair for Brazil’s construction industry, will be held in São Paulo for the first time from 4 to 6 November. And in India, KOLKATAWOOD will make its debut from 12 to 14 September 2025.

_{About NürnbergMesse Group} 

_{The NürnbergMesse Group was entered in the commercial register on 5 April 1974 as Nürnberger Messe- und Ausstellungsgesellschaft mbH (NMA) and is now one of the 15 largest exhibition companies worldwide. The Group employs more than 1,200 people at 15 international locations in Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Brazil, China, India and the USA. It also has a network of international representatives in more than 100 other countries. Its portfolio comprises around 120 on-site and online events focusing on five principal areas: Retail & Consumer Goods, Building & Construction, Process Technology, Electronics & Security, and Social & Public. Overall, its events secure more than 12,000 jobs and generate billions of euros in purchasing power and tax revenue every year, making NürnbergMesse a major economic driver for the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region and Germany as a whole. As an employer and organiser of major events, NürnbergMesse takes its responsibility for people and the environment seriously. Its business activities are aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the aim of achieving a CO2-neutral energy supply by 2028.}