Future of Bauma and trade shows is ‘mixed

As Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München stated, in future, the trade shows will be characterized by hybrid events, with a mixture of face-to-face and online activity.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost all of the trade shows such as Conexpo, which was held in March 2020, have either been postponed, cancelled or reimagined as only online events.

A number of OEMs, such as JLG, Volvo CE, and JCB have mentioned that they are not going to take part in Bauma 2022, citing changing customer behavior and the ability to communicate with customers and dealers online.

“Digital encounters are not a hundred percent substitute for face-to-face exchanges. In my view, the foreseeable future of trade shows will therefore be characterised by hybrid events, a mixture of online and face-to-face events,” stated Klaus Dittrich.

He also continued: “Our customers welcome an increased offering of digital platforms. But at the same time, they signal that they will continue to rely on face-to-face trade shows in the future. A survey conducted by the ifo Institute in October 2020 revealed that well over half of German exhibitors plan to continue with trade visitor-oriented trade shows to the same extent in the future. However, almost 40% also said they would scale back their participation in trade shows.”

Dittrich added that Messe München has been working on digital products for many years and have successfully held loads of online events. The company plans, “to exploit the opportunities” of digital transformation – which the Covid-19 pandemic has speeded up.

For the next world’s largest trade show i.e., Bauma Munich exhibition which will be hold in Munch on April 4 to April 10, 2022, Dittrich confirmed that the physical aspect of the show was “core” and “cannot be presented online in the same way.”

Moreover, he asserted that, “we will also supplement and expand bauma with digital offerings. This will enable customers from all over the world to participate in bauma even if they cannot or do not want to travel to Munich themselves.”