“Open as never before” is the title of our Annual Report for 2022. We chose this title because initially the direction the year would take was completely open. At year-end, however, we were able to look back with satisfaction, having seen three premieres, two strong global flagship fairs, and the opening of a fully renovated congress centre, not to mention the second highest sales revenues in the history of Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC) totalling 108.7 euros – all in a business year that lasted no more than nine months.
„We are incredibly proud of our colleagues who have successfully managed the physically demanding restart under challenging conditions.“
Then events followed in rapid succession: At twelve HMC-organised trade fairs, 30 guest events and 42 events at the CCH, Hamburg Messe und Congress welcomed a total of 10,054 exhibiting companies and 488,715 guests. In all this, HMC presented itself as “open as never before” to new partners and formats. And, to be honest, we are incredibly proud of our colleagues who not only managed our energy-sapping relaunch under difficult conditions in an admirable manner but used the Covid years to develop as many as four new exhibition formats to market-readiness. A heartfelt thank you for that!
"Open as never before” is also a good description of the architecture of our new CCH – Congress Center Hamburg which we were able to reopen in April 2022 after more than five years of comprehensive modernisation and extension work. With its spacious, light-flooded foyer, its modern technology and the countless flexible ways its up to 50 rooms can be arranged, it is among Europe’s most attractive congress centres, a fact that can already be seen in the number of incoming enquiries.
Future congress organisers will increasingly focus on making their events climate-friendly and sustainable. As the Gold award received recently from the German Society for Sustainable Construction (DGNB) demonstrates, the new CCH can claim to be a leading venue in this respect, as well.
"Open as never before", we have also begun to discuss, modify and redesign our internal structures and are trying out new work models. As might be expected, our focal areas include digitalising our infrastructure, processes, sales activities and services, just to name a few. More than 40 of our colleagues now work in our Digital Business Unit supporting the organisation of future events. Digitalisation is not only one of the big topics at nearly every event at our venues; it is also a prerequisite for us to succeed in the competitive exhibition and congress sector by offering comprehensive and state-of-the-art services.
The same applies to sustainability, an area where, as a municipal company, we are strongly committed to the goals of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Much like digitalisation, quantifiable sustainability is a key competitive factor for any forward-looking trade fair or congress – another reason for us to dedicate significant effort to the development of a sound sustainability strategy.
Notwithstanding our enthusiasm about what has been achieved, and our anticipation of what lies ahead, we remain somewhat cautious. The impact of the pandemic, supply chain disruption, the Russian attack on Ukraine and the enormous inflation rates, especially in the energy and services sectors, are being felt strongly in many places and will continue to affect us in the coming years. These factors will continue to influence our business results.
Nevertheless, the year 2022 was encouraging, and it more than confirmed our hopes: Trade fairs and congresses are a “people business”. People want to gather together – in person, face-to-face! This is especially evident at our numerous after-work parties which, whatever they may be called, increasingly top off our trade fairs. Here again, our formats are "open as never before", highlighting our ambition to be a platform for networking and innovation.
We are very thankful for a wonderful year and the great enthusiasm shown by our exhibitors, partners, colleagues, and of course, our many guests from around the world. This enthusiasm could be felt every single day at every event throughout our exhibition halls and the CCH.
We would also like to thank our partners and our Supervisory Board for supporting us in 2022, which was certainly an unusual business year.
Sincerely yours,
Bernd Aufderheide Uwe Fischer
„Trade fairs and congresses are a peoples business. People want to meet - and they want to meet face to face!“
Driven by the threat of climate change, sustainability has become one of the most urgent concerns of our time. Apart from using resources responsibly and minimising CO2 emissions, sustainability also includes economic and social stewardship in a holistic approach to addressing the interests of future generations. Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH fully supports the City of Hamburg’s goal to achieve a carbon-neutral footprint for its public-sector organisations by 2040. Beyond that, numerous individual projects have been initiated in the social sector, as well. A comprehensive sustainability strategy is under development to coordinate all initiatives, define new areas of activity, and provide guidance to HMC as it endeavours to become a sustainable organisation.
The figures, data and facts of the extraordinary fiscal year 2022 and previous years can be found here.
