“To me, 2024 was an awesome year. And clearly, results such as these cannot be accomplished without a highly motivated and professional team, especially in an inaugural year. It was mainly our team members who made this possible. I am extremely grateful for this and am looking forward to all the things we will achieve together in the future,” said Heiko M. Stutzinger.
Uwe Fischer: “Last year’s excellent result has two key components. First, Hamburg Messe und Congress was relieved of the immense burden of 22 million euros in leasing costs for the exhibition halls, which had been like a millstone around our neck for almost two decades. It has been replaced by a rental fee of around 7 million euros that represents what is typically charged for commercial property of this type. But it is also important to mention that – even without the elimination of the leasing costs – we have achieved an operating result in the million-euro range, thanks to important strategic decisions in recent years and a re-structured HMC.”
Hamburg Messe und Congress’ own events are the pillars of success
The main pillars of this success were HMC’s own events: Taken together, HAMBURG OPEN, REISEN & CARAVANING Hamburg, INTERNORGA, the leading international maritime trade fair SMM, the global flagship fair WindEnergy Hamburg, the POLARIS Convention, and GET NORD generated a total of 87.8 million euros in sales, including revenues from products and services booked for trade fair appearances.
While the long-standing trade fairs INTERNORGA and SMM confirmed their status as the best-performing events, it was primarily WindEnergy Hamburg that surpassed its target for 2024. In autumn 2024, SMM, the Hydrogen Technology Expo (a guest event held in Hamburg for the first time) and WindEnergy Hamburg jointly formed the so-called “Hamburg Big 3 of Energy Transition”, a key initiative for the City of Hamburg with its numerous business clusters, as it aims to establish itself as a major global hub for the hydrogen sector.
All in all, more than 760,000 people were welcomed to seven HMC-managed and 40 guest events on the exhibition complex alone in 2024.
The CCH – medical congresses are returning
Furthermore, in 2024 over 142,000 congress participants, concert visitors and other guests were counted at the 76 events held at the CCH – Congress Center Hamburg – 16,000 visitors more than the previous year. The number of events increased by 20. They included the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), attended by world-leading scientists specialising on stem cell research and regenerative medicine, as well as the congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), whose 8,680 participants occupied the entire CCH for five days. The IAPH World Ports Conference, the DGK Heart Days, and the IMEKO World Congress focusing on digitalisation and quantum technology were other major events.
Security – an issue of increasing importance
Expanding its own portfolio of events planned for 2025, Hamburg Messe und Congress is adding Security and Defense, a topic of increasing importance around the world, as a new segment by hosting the Global Security and Innovation Summit (GSIS) in October. To this end, a strategic partnership was established with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The Global Security and Innovation Summit aims to provide a common platform for international experts and decision-makers to discuss the growing number of security policy challenges and develop innovative solutions.
Following successful completion of HAMBURG OPEN, REISEN & CARAVING Hamburg and INTERNORGA during the first quarter of 2025, the city’s calendar now lists Seatrade Europe, the POLARIS Convention, the GSIS and the RECHARGE Wind Power Summit as forthcoming HMC events, complemented by INMEX SMM India in Mumbai, India. Furthermore, 2025 is bringing around 50 guest events to the exhibition complex, including several flagship fairs such as the Aircraft Interiors Expo, the Hydrogen Technology Expo or the UITP Summit, the world’s foremost mobility congress for local public transport, which ended yesterday.
The total number of events held at the CCH – Congress Center Hamburg in 2025 will exceed 100. Among others, there are 23 medical and scientific congresses in the books, along with various annual general meetings. Bookings have increased 30 per cent compared to the previous year. Especially in the medical congresses segment, events are increasingly returning to the CCH on a regular basis. What is more, a growing number of cultural events are discovering the CCH as an ideal venue.
More good reasons to celebrate
The OMR Festival is one of our regular customers, and just a few months ago, a new ten-year contract was signed with its organisers. This means that one of the biggest events of Europe’s online marketing and digital industry will remain faithful to the city where it began its success story and has been writing it ever since.
January 2025 came with another reason to celebrate when Hamburg Messe und Congress won an award as one of Hamburg’s best companies for trainees for the seventh time.
Business outlook
Looking at the business perspective for 2025, an odd year with fewer trade events, Hamburg Messe und Congress is expecting sales revenues of 88.1 million euros and a negative result in the amount of 19.2 million euros. However, the two-year event cycle comprising 2024 and 2025 will show a positive biennial bottom-line result for the first time, marking another milestone after the successful year 2024. “We will continue to build on this outcome,” said Stutzinger and Fischer, “and increase our earnings steadily over the coming years.”
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