More evidence that conference planners
are back to pre-pandemic levels of activity came when the company behind one of Europe’s largest
congress centres posted record results.
Hamburg Messe and Congress, under co-leadership, boasted sales of €80.7m in 2023 – its strongest odd year in terms
of revenues and 19 per cent more than in 2019.
However higher costs, including a
rise in energy prices and hikes in the cost of venue hire and maintenance, meant
the company posted a preliminary loss of - €43m.
Company bosses have set themselves
an ambitious target to hike revenues by 45 per cent this year – hitting €133.7m
– and deliver a rare positive bottom line.
Seven HMC-organised trade fairs
and 34 guest events were held on Hamburg’s exhibition campus last year - the
first year of uninterrupted operations for HMC since 2019. Meanwhile 125,971 delegates
attended 56 events at the newly refurbished Congress Center Hamburg, which has a capacity of 12,000.
Co-CEO Uwe Fischer said: “Our
teams have done a great job, in many cases achieving more than what was to be
expected. As we make headway towards achieving profitability, Covid-19 slowed
us down but didn’t stop us. With annual sales revenues of 133.7 million euros
in 2024, we will surpass our previous top result from 2016 by some 20 per cent.
We are thus anticipating a positive bottom line.”
The current event schedule for
2024 lists nine HMC-organised trade fairs, around 40 guest events as well as 50
events at the CCH including concerts.
Co-CEO Heiko M. Stutzinger said: “This
is going to be an incredibly intense year. Especially during the main season in
autumn, with several global flagship fairs taking place, we are expecting large
numbers of international guests on our campus and in the city. I am excited to
have joined HMC in this phase of developments, and to be able to experience the
dynamic of such a wide range of events.”
