"As
soon as one bauma ends, preparations for the next start!" That´s how
things look to Georg Moller, Exhibition Director of
bauma, which takes place every three years. Moller started out at Messe München
as a technical coordinator, but in 1990 was promoted into the management team
for bauma, the leading international trade fair for construction machinery,
building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction
equipment.
Now he and his team are
already well into the preparations for the 29th bauma, which takes place from
19 to 24 April 2010 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. We took a closer look
at the work of the exhibition team:
Mr Moller, bauma 2007 was a superlative event, with over 540,000 square
metres of exhibition space, 3,002 exhibitors from 49 countries and over 500,000
visitors from 191 countries. As such it is the world´s biggest trade fair for
the construction machinery sector. What happens in the three years between this
last event and the upcoming one in 2010?
Moller: "After bauma 2007
we met with the fair´s Advisory Board to start on strategic planning for the
next bauma. One result of this work is now evident in the form of exhibitor documentation,
which we will be starting to send out in October 2008. Once we receive the
responses from exhibitors – the deadline is 31 March 2009 – that´s when the
hall planning really gets into gear: We try to accommodate as many exhibitors'
requests as possible, in terms of placement and space. Experience has shown
that with a level of bookings such as we had at the last event (with over 3,000
exhibitors), this demands a lot of coordination within the team. From autumn
2009 the Technical Exhibition Services Department of Messe München then also
starts to get involved."
What interfaces do you and your team have outside Messe München?
Moller: "We already have
in place a 40-strong committee ensuring that things run smoothly for exhibitors
and visitors at bauma. This committee consists of representatives from various
internal and external institutions such as the transport authorities, the local
public transport companies, and the police. We have to make sure there are
around 25,000 parking spaces available near the exhibition centre for the very
busy 'bauma Saturday', make full use of the various park-and-ride options, and
think about how to manage the flow of visitors arriving by public transport and
private car. For Munich and the surrounding area, 500,000 visitors over the
seven-day fair presents a transport volume equivalent to that experienced each
year at the Oktoberfest.
In addition many months before
the fair starts, lots of other departments here are involved, as well as our
foreign representatives. There are people arranging hotel bookings, organising
trips for delegations, dealing with inquiries from visitors and the media, and
promoting the event at international trade fairs in the sector."
The product range featured at bauma has been continuously developed
since the first event in 1954. In 2007 bauma put on the world´s broadest
presentation of the sector, spanning the four major areas of building sites,
mining, building materials production and suppliers/services. In terms of the
product range and in view of this already very high level, is there any further
development potential for bauma 2010?
Moller: "If, after the
close of registrations, we find that the space needs are much higher than what
is available, we will of course have to try all we can to create a little more
scope to extend the product ranges within the framework of the space available
at the exhibition centre. Because around 80 percent of bauma´s exhibitors are
regulars, we can be sure the quality and continuity will be high in the product
range. However, bauma must also do justice to its reputation as an innovations
platform and welcome newcomers on the world market. In the past this has always
meant an increase in space. Take the mining section, for example – this was
brought into bauma for the first time in 2004 and in 2007 it was enhanced
particularly well with the bauma forum. So we will be strengthening this
section still further in 2010. In this context we will be showing a presence at
targeted mining fairs in the run-up to bauma, and thereby expanding our
contacts with potential exhibitors, visitors, representatives from the sector,
associations and trade journalists. In this way we can pick up new ideas on
market trends and topical themes which could be interesting to develop for
bauma."
bauma 2007 reflected the ongoing building boom in many regions around
the world, and we saw this in the high percentage of foreign trade visitors –
55 percent who attended. Where do you see further potential to increase this
proportion?
Moller:
"bauma attracts trade visitors from all continents, with a high proportion
from Europe (2007: 123,000). Happily, we also
saw the impact of the Asian building boom at bauma 2007, when 16,700 visitors
came from that part of the world. Thanks to our partner concept we always have
a tremendous response in the growth markets for construction machinery. In 2010
India
will be the country focus at bauma – according to a study by the Bundesagentur für Außenwirtschaft
(German Office for Foreign Trade), a total of 500 billion US dollars will be
invested in infrastructure in that country by 2012. In addition our visitor
marketing is also targeted at the markets of eastern Europe."
bauma The
latest products from the international construction, building-materials
and mining
machinery sectors will be on show at bauma in Munich between 19 and 24
April 2010. This
event will take up over 540,000 square metres (gross) of indoor and
outdoor
exhibition space at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. In 2007 3,002
exhibitors
from 49 countries used bauma and Mining, the world´s biggest
trade fair for the
sector, as an innovations and marketing platform. bauma 2007 broke a
number of
records: visitor numbers increased 20 percent to over 500,000 trade
visitors
from 191 different countries. Around 155,000 of these visitors
travelled to Munich from outside Germany. For further information on
bauma, go to: www.bauma.de
The international bauma portfolio The successful concept behind bauma has been
transferred to a number of regional events for the sector, organised by
subsidiary companies of Messe München GmbH. The most important of these
construction machinery fairs is bauma China,
which takes place in Shanghai
every two years. Other regional events in the bauma portfolio are Conmex Middle
East in Sharjah, IranConMin in Tehran and
Conbuild Vietnam,
taking place on either a one- or a two-year cycle. For further information, go
to: www.bauma-china.com,
www.iranconmin.de; www.conmex.ae and www.conbuild-vietnam.com.
Messe München
International (MMI) Messe München
International (MMI, Munich Trade Fairs International Group) is one of the
world´s leading trade-fair companies. It organises around 40 trade fairs for
capital and consumer goods, and key high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000
exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from
more than 200 countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, MMI organises trade
fairs in Asia, Russia, the
Middle East and South America. With six
subsidiaries abroad – in Europe and in Asia –
and with 66 foreign representatives serving 89 countries, MMI has a truly
global network.
Press contact: Claudia Stadler, Manager Communications
Messe München
GmbH
Tel. (+49 89) 949-20 245, Fax (+49 89)
949-20249
Claudia.Stadler@messe-muenchen.de 01/e/MarComGB1/cst
