Exhibitors planning their trade fair participations can find reliable and comparable data in the 2009 Report of the FKM – Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics. The information is also available online at www.fkm.de; data on numerous trade fairs from the first six months of 2010 can be found there as well.

In addition to providing basic data such as exhibitor numbers, the amount of rented space and exhibitor attendance at 236 German events, FKM has also published the results of surveys carried out among trade visitors and the general public at 176 trade fairs.

Last year a total of 69 organisers belonging to FKM had their trade fairs audited according to uniform regulations.

Speaking at the publication of the annual report, FKM Chairman Wolfgang Marzin said: “When preparing to take part in a fair, one of the exhibitor’s most important tasks is to define specific trade fair goals, i.e. to determine how many visitors he wants to reach, and from which regions and sectors. FKM visitor surveys in particular make it easy to find out which trade fairs match one’s own trade fair goals. They provide information on visitors’ origins by federal state and continent, on the sector they represent and their influence on decisions, and in the case of the general public on people’s age and household income. For those who know what they want to achieve at a trade fair, choosing from the seemingly large number of fairs on offer is quite easy. They will almost automatically find the one that ‘fits’.”

In addition to the German member companies, two guest members from abroad, the Verona Trade Fair Company and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council had a total of 19 trade fairs audited. A trade fair held by a German organiser abroad was also audited.

The 2009 FKM report can be downloaded at Media Centre. Additional information on FKM is available at www.fkm.de.