Speaking at trade fairs: what AUMA's 2025 figures mean for speakers

AUMA, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, presented the results of its 2025 organiser survey (in German) on 16 September 2026: German trade fair organisers generated revenue of 4.4 billion euros in 2025 and are thus above the pre-COVID record of 4.1 billion euros for the second year running. They managed this even though, because of the trade fair cycles, only 304 trade fairs took place, after 322 the year before. For speakers this is good news. At expert forums and exhibitor stages they speak to the professional audience that an industry gathers at the fair. Since many leading trade fairs do not take place every year, you are best off planning your trade fair stages over two years.

AUMA organiser survey 2025: trade fair revenue holds at record level

The figures come from AUMA's member companies. Besides the trade fair business in Germany, they also cover international business as well as the congress and service activities of the companies. Twelve of 16 companies reported revenues of more than 50 million euros. The result is remarkable because fewer trade fairs took place in 2025 than in the previous year owing to their cycles, as according to AUMA the odd-numbered years usually turn out weaker because of the different trade fair cycles. In addition, several leading international trade fairs took place in 2025 as part of their cycle. The announcement names bauma in Munich, the plastics fair K, iba in Düsseldorf, IFFA in Frankfurt as well as Agritechnica and EMO in Hanover, plus Anuga in Cologne.

At the 304 trade fairs of 2025, AUMA counted around 192,000 exhibiting companies, 0.7 per cent more than at the previous editions. The number of visitors rose by 1.9 per cent to more than 12.7 million, and 66 per cent of all exhibitors and more than 33 per cent of all visitors came from abroad. A total of 319 trade fairs are planned for 2026. According to the announcement, around 240 had already taken place by mid-September, with 79 more to follow by the end of the year.

Organiser Outlook 2026/2027: trade fair organisers plan more cautiously

On the same day AUMA published its Organiser Outlook 2026/2027 (in German). It is based on 93 responses from 24 German trade fair organisers in May and June 2026. The mood is more sober than a year ago. Only 20.5 per cent rate the business development of their own company optimistically, down from 50 per cent the year before, while 38.8 per cent are pessimistic. Among the conditions that will strongly influence the industry over the next two years, 94.6 per cent name general cost increases and 93.5 per cent the economic situation of exhibiting companies.

For speakers the view of visitors is more revealing. 78 per cent of respondents see changing visitor needs as a major or very major challenge, and 66.7 per cent say the same of developing digital formats and services. As trends, the organisers name new formats such as eventisation or festivalisation, along with experience worlds or community approaches. With these, trade fairs are meant to show their business and emotional added value even more clearly. The outlook does not ask about talks as such. In our view, though, a strong programme on forums and stages is one of the most obvious ways for a trade fair to give visitors a reason to come.

Trade fairs are a stage market of their own for speakers

A trade fair usually has several kinds of stage, and each has its own way in. The following overview is based on our practice and does not come from the survey.

• Expert forums and theme stages run by the organiser, whose programme is put together by a trade fair team or an advisory board, sometimes through a public call.
• Congresses that run alongside the fair on the same site, often with their own programme committee and a call for papers.
• Exhibitor stages and stand talks, for which exhibitors look for experts who bring visitors to their stand.
• Stages run by associations that want to make their topic visible at the fair.

Compared with a pure conference, a trade fair offers you a particular advantage, because your ideal clients are in the same hall as exhibitors or visitors. On paper, each of the 304 trade fairs in 2025 had a good 630 exhibitors and around 42,000 visitors. The large leading fairs distort these averages. Many specialist fairs are considerably smaller, but the figures show the scale of the audience that an industry brings together in one place.

Sample calculation: how many trade fair stages there are in your field

The survey gives no figure for speaking slots, so we calculate with open assumptions that you replace with your own. 304 trade fairs were counted in 2025 and 319 are planned for 2026, which makes 623 trade fairs over two years. Suppose that 2 per cent of them suit your field and your ideal clients, which gives you around twelve trade fairs. Suppose further that you find three of the routes to a stage described above at each of them. That makes 36 requests over two years. If one in six of them leads to a talk, you will be on a trade fair stage six times in two years.

The second part of the calculation concerns the audience. Suppose that one per cent of the average of a good 630 exhibitors at a trade fair are among your ideal clients; then at every fair six of these companies are only a few minutes' walk from your stage. With six talks that makes 36 companies you can approach at their stand after your talk, provided the lists do not overlap. The acceptance rate has the greatest influence on the result, and in our view it rises when you enquire early and tailor your topic to the profile of each trade fair.

Trade fair cycles: speakers plan trade fair stages over two years

AUMA explains the fall from 322 to 304 trade fairs with the trade fair cycles. Many leading trade fairs do not take place every year, so the most important fair in your field may offer a stage only every two or three years, with a programme that is fixed months before the doors open.

Suppose that a leading trade fair in your field takes place every two years, with the next edition in spring 2027, and that the organiser fixes the programme of its expert forums six to nine months beforehand. The decision on the forum programme then falls between summer and autumn 2026, in other words in the coming weeks. If you miss this window, you will speak on that stage in 2029 at the earliest. The lead time is an assumption that you check for each trade fair on its website or in conversation with the trade fair team.

A two-year plan helps you make use of the cycles. According to AUMA's count, odd-numbered years usually turn out weaker, and the leading international fairs of 2025 show at the same time that an odd-numbered year can be the more important one in individual industries. For every suitable trade fair, therefore, note the next date and the point at which its programme is planned. Add the route you will use to approach it.

How to find the trade fair stages in your field

A good starting point for your search is AUMA's MesseFinder. It lists dates and key figures for more than 3,500 trade fairs in Germany and abroad. You can filter it by industry and period and see at the same time how international each fair is.

With this list you go to the trade fairs' websites. Under supporting programme or forums you will find which stages exist and who is responsible for the programme. Often you will also learn there whether there is a public call for talk proposals. The exhibitor list shows you who will be there. Some exhibitors run a stage of their own, and many could make good use of an expert talk at their stand. How to approach organisers when there is no public call is covered in Contacting conference organisers directly, and what a committee reads during selection is set out in What a programme committee looks for.

Five steps speakers can take to prepare for their next trade fair season

1. Search the MesseFinder for all trade fairs in your field and note the cycle and the next date for each one.
2. Check on the websites which forums and exhibitor stages there are and who is responsible for the programme.
3. Note for each trade fair when its programme is planned, and schedule your request a few weeks before that point.
4. Pick out the companies and associations from the exhibitor list that fit your topic, and offer them a talk for their stage or their stand.
5. After every trade fair talk, set aside time in the halls to approach the exhibitors among your ideal clients directly.