Three thoughts about our times: cosmopolitanism, regional economic policy, sustainability
Philip Harting, AUMA Chairman
© AUMA | Christian Kruppa
Cosmopolitanism
The time has come to take up a stance. I am proud of the fact that the German trade fair industry overwhelmingly demonstrated this in a joint industry campaign on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of our constitution on 23 May. We made it clear that our constitution is a valuable basis for Germany as the number one trade fair country and that our constitution should be preserved and protected.
The German trade fair industry is a model of success due to its cosmopolitanism. In 2023 alone, 96,000 exhibiting companies and 2.5 million visitors from abroad came to our trade fairs in Germany. Our trade fair organisers' teams have a variety of backgrounds reflecting the diverse and international nature of our economy. Those who fail to understand this reality are biting the hand that feeds them.
„The trade fair industry is one of the few marketing disciplines in which Germany is a serious international player, too.“
Regional economic policy
Germany is the world's leading trade fair location, with around 70 exhibition centres, an average of 330 trade fairs per year, and the highest level of internationality on both the visitor and exhibitor fronts. According to insiders and experts alike, "The trade fair industry is one of the few marketing disciplines in which Germany is a serious international player, too."
This is what Horizont, the trade journal for marketing, advertising and media wrote about our industry. And we want to keep it that way. We ourselves are taking significant steps to reinforce Germany's powerful position in line with the principles of the social market economy:
- Four-and-a-half billion euro in tax revenue for the federal, state and local governments through the organisation of trade fairs - that is what our industry stands for.
- Trade fairs in Germany contribute up to 28 billion euro to the overall economic result each year, representing a significant share from our industry.
- What’s more, we secure more than 230,000 jobs - here in Germany. We are a strong economic driver for the regions throughout Germany.
- We get the world to Germany and thus provide the diving board for small and medium-sized enterprises to international destinations.
We never tire of making this clear to our politicians in particular. We want to be part of the solution - if we are allowed to: Faster visas for our foreign visitors and exhibitors, fewer reporting requirements for both exhibitors and organisers - that would help us the most from the political side.
Sustainability
We remain focused on our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, five years ahead of Germany's national target. This is ambitious, but we do our best. The next milestone will be 2025: By then, we want to be using 100% green electricity. Quite a number of AUMA members have already realised this idea. We know from an AUMA survey at the beginning of 2024 that more than 80 percent of our members will achieve this goal for sure. The last mile is always the hardest, everywhere. We will manage to get the others to commit to the common goal as well. I would like to thank you here and now for your commitment. And please keep going on!
Yours,
Philip Harting
Philip Harting (born 1974) was re-elected as AUMA Chairman for another three years in 2022. He was first elected Chairman in 2019 and has been a member of the AUMA Board since 2008. Mr Harting is Chief Executive Officer of the Harting Technology Group, which is a prominent exhibitor at numerous national and international trade shows.
