400 suppliers and 2,000 buyers from India attend Cologne trade shows

Koelnmesse aims to offer its customers, and the sectors they come from, trade fair platforms in all of the relevant markets. The events that take place in Cologne are open to the Indian market. These fairs are the leading events of their kind for 25 sectors, and together they cover over 90 per cent of the exportable products manufactured worldwide in these sectors. In Cologne, exhibitors and visitors from India meet potential business partners not only from Germany, but also from western and eastern Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Australia. The Koelnmesse Group stages trade fairs in Cologne and, increasingly, in other markets around the world. Six of its events take place in India.

The Koelnmesse Group stages more than 60 international trade fairs and exhibitions at various regular intervals. Its core areas of expertise are: Food; Furniture, Interior Design and Textiles; Technology and Environment; IT and Digital Entertainment; Communications, New Media and Fashion; House, Garden and Leisure; Art and Culture; Health, Lifestyle and Facilities.

43,000 suppliers, 2.2 million visitors
Most of the trade fairs are open to trade visitors only. They bring together the product ranges of 43,000 exhibiting companies from more than 100 nations with the demand generated by 2.2 million visitors from over 200 countries. Altogether, they occupy 3.9 million m² of exhibition space. The international scope of the events organised by Koelnmesse is unrivalled, with an average of 60 per cent of exhibitors and 40 per cent of visitors coming from outside of Germany. The proportion of small and medium-sized companies among the foreign exhibitors is particularly high. Many of them choose - particularly during their first participation - to exhibit their products as part of a national group presentation, most of which are organised by governmental export-promotion agencies. Koelnmesse subsidiaries and offices are located in almost 90 countries, and representatives are on hand to answer any questions that exhibitors or visitors may have about the events and how to take part. In order to strengthen local customer relations and market presence, Koelnmesse has established subsidiaries in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, the United States, and in several Asian countries.

Key trade fairs for participants from India
Around 400 suppliers from India exhibit at trade fairs in Cologne. India is particularly strongly represented at the INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR/PRACTICAL WORLD (which focuses on tools, security systems and DIY), spoga (the International Trade Fair for Sport, Camping and Garden Lifestyle), interzum (the leading fair for suppliers to the furnishing sector), photokina (World of Imaging), and Anuga (the world’s leading fair for the food and beverage sector). In addition, more than 2,000 buyers from India regularly come to Cologne to attend trade fairs. Their main destinations are photokina, interzum, Anuga, Anuga FoodTec (the International Trade Fair for food and drink technology), and IMB (World of Textile Processing).

Fourth-largest exhibition centre in the world
Trade fairs have been held in Cologne since 1924. Today, the Koelnmesse Group is a legally and financially independent company that employs more than 500 people. The Cologne exhibition centre is the fourth largest in the world. The infrastructure of the exhibition grounds has been restructured from top to bottom; and the quality of visitors’ and exhibitors’ stay in Cologne has been significantly improved. Four new multipurpose trade fair halls have been built to replace the historic Rhineside Halls. There are many reasons why the new-look Koelnmesse is set to be one of the most appealing trade fair venues in Europe: There’s the compact layout of the exhibition grounds, with 11 trade fair halls that form a single, continuous environment; the outstanding technical features and equipment, which meet all the requirements of today’s exhibition and trade fair sector; first-class services that are unparalleled in the trade fair industry; the exhibition grounds’ outstanding location within easy reach of the city center; and, finally, the outstanding accessibility of Koelnmesse, whether you’re traveling by plane, train or car. At its disposal are a total exhibition area of 284,000 m² and more than 100,000 m² of open-air space site. The centre can accommodate up to 12,000 conference participants, and is an ideal venue for various conventions and accompanying exhibitions. Koelnmesse’s Congress Centres play host to well about 2,000 conferences and other events annually during trade fairs as well as between them.

Located directly across the Rhine from Cologne’s world-famous cathedral, the exhibition centre can be reached from central Cologne within just a few minutes by train, ferry, car, or on foot. During trade fairs, long-distance trains stop at both the Cologne main railway station and the exhibition centre station in Cologne-Deutz. The international airports of Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf and Cologne-Bonn are a short journey away, and trade fair participants can use their admission tickets as free local public transport passes that are valid for an extensive area in and around Cologne.

Within the Koelnmesse Group, Koelnmesse GmbH is responsible for the core business, i.e., staging the trade fairs and exhibitions in the defined areas of expertise. This is achieved through close cooperation with the participating business sectors. Ensuring an increasingly international scope, providing comprehensive quality service, establishing innovative new fairs and permanently enhancing the trade fair portfolio are the cornerstones of Koelnmesse’s trade fair policy, which makes a substantial contribution to business success. All this is summed up in the company’s slogan and its promise to its customers: “We energize your business.” Koelnmesse generates business momentum for the participants of its trade fairs and the sectors they represent, before, during and after the fair.

Koelnmesse trade fairs in India
Koelnmesse stages more than 20 trade fairs outside of Germany, mainly in Asia. All of these satellite events, including the six held in India, are based on their “parent” fairs in Cologne, transferring sector expertise to the world’s most rapidly expanding markets.

After the successful launch of World of Food India 2004 in Hyderabad Koelnmesse joint hands with FICCI to organize the next edition as partner. As a result of this joint venture World of Food India was re-named to Annapoorna – World of Food India. The trade fair for the food and drinks sector is making its debut in Mumbai, from 1st to 3rd November 2006. The show is held alongside International FoodService India which covers all equipments and services for Retailing, Inflight-, Rail-, Ship-, Hotel- and Event-Catering. The trade fair duo occupies 8,000 m² of exhibition space in Hall 1 of the Bombay Exhibition grounds NSE in Mumbai. International FoodTec India, the number one trade fair in India for food and beverage technology, will be opening on 23rd November 2006 - and it’s going to be bigger and more international than ever before. This will be the fourth time that the fair is held. Following the success of International FoodTec India in 2004, when it was still being held in Hyderabad, the fair’s Advisory Board decided together with the organiser Koelnmesse to hold the next event in Mumbai. This calls for transferring the successful crossover concept of Anuga FoodTec in Cologne to India. Major international players will be represented in the food technology part as well as at the spin-off events Sweet & Snack Factory India and Dairy Universe India. Dairy Universe India presents product lifecycles in the dairy industry, while Sweet & Snack Factory India is an international trade fair for the production and processing of confectionery, baked goods and snacks. From 13th to 17th September 2006 the International Pavilion Koelnmesse was held at Index Furniture Fair/Index Inter-Furn in Mumbai. The international trade fair for finished furniture, furniture hardware, semi finished products, furniture production and interior works is being organized by Koelnmesse GmbH in cooperation and with support of UNIVERSAL EXPOSITIONS Ltd., Mumbai.

The Koelnmesse Group
Various Koelnmesse subsidies specialise in providing customer services that go beyond the scope of the core areas of trade fair expertise. Koelnmesse International GmbH organises trade fair activities outside Germany. It draws on Koelnmesse’s sector expertise to enter new markets in addition to those covered by the Cologne-based pilot fairs, bringing events to selected target regions and local markets. Since 1981, it has been organising more than 70 fairs, participations and events each year in virtually every part of the world. Koelnmesse Ausstellungen GmbH markets available hall capacity, which is used for guest events by associations, purchasing cooperatives and German and international trade fair companies that do not have their own exhibition venues. It also conducts its own events for the public in Cologne and other German cities. Finally, Koelnmesse Service GmbH offers exhibitors and visitors all the services they need from a single source. It provides full-service packages that include everything from travel arrangements to accommodation, stand planning, organising accompanying events and the implementation of professional advertising and media services.