GERMANY – ORGATEC in Cologne is the world’s leading trade fair for Office and Facility. The fair was held from October 23 to 27 and hosted 753 exhibiting companies from 39 countries (2016: 664 companies from 40 countries).

They included 187 domestic exhibitors (2016: 179 exhibitors) and 566 companies from outside Germany (2016: 485 companies). ORGATEC 2018 attracted around 63,000 trade visitors from 142 countries (2016: 54,946 trade visitors from 118 countries) an increase in visitors of over 15 per cent.

ORGATEC 2018 demonstrated how leading international trade fairs position themselves successfully: it addressed relevant issues emotionally and provided a whole sector with new sources of creative inspiration. “ORGATEC has successfully transformed itself from being solely a product showcase to an issues-focused business event,” said Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse. “With its first-class event and congress programme, ORGATEC succeeded in firmly embedding the sociopolitical importance of modern working worlds in decision makers’ thinking,” she added.

Hendrik Hund, President of the German Interior Business Association (IBA e.V.) praised the industry’s varied and creative appearance at the fair: “The inventiveness and diversity with which companies approached the central theme at this ORGATEC – the future of work – was impressive.”

ORGATEC 2018 also achieved impressive results in terms of its international reach. On the visitor side, the number of countries represented at the event rose from 118 to 142. In total, significantly more visitors from outside Germany travelled to Cologne for the leading international trade fair for the modern working world. Growth was particularly strong in the share of trade visitors from North America (+42 per cent), Central and South America (+42 per cent) and EU nations (+33 per cent).

Increases were also recorded in the number of visitors from Japan (+22 per cent) and India (+44 per cent). The number of Eastern European visitors at ORGATEC 2018 almost doubled. Alongside the event’s significantly increased international reach, exhibitors praised the senior decision-making authority held by the trade visitors and the large proportion of young people in the audience.

The next ORGATEC will take place from 27 to 31 October 2020 in Cologne, Germany.