When the trade fair engine sputters: Switzerland is a top visitor destination in Germany, but trade fairs are losing exhibitors.

According to AUMA, the economic downturn is now, with a delay, also impacting the German trade fair industry and thus the exhibition stand construction sector. And the MCH Group is considering a major event in Basel.

By Urs Seiler || June 15, 2026

Image: Koelnmesse, North Entrance.

The Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) forecasts the first quarter of 2026, a traditionally busy period for trade fairs, according to the latest figures from June 4, 2026. Exhibitor numbers are expected to decline by 2.3 percent, and the rented exhibition space by 4.6 percent. In contrast, visitor numbers increased by 0.9 percent. This means that the primary victims of this trend will be trade fair organizers and stand construction companies.

When the Amstschimmel neighs: Reasons for the decline

While the key figures for the German trade fair industry were still in positive territory for 2025, the economic downturn is now having a delayed impact on the German trade fair industry.

“...the economic downturn in Germany is leading to increasing caution and reluctance. A genuine economic policy for domestic companies must become noticeable by the end of the year. The gradual dismantling of foreign trade subsidies, high location costs, and excessive reporting requirements are avoidable, self-inflicted problems,” says AUMA Chairman Philip Harting (pictured above).

When the market shrinks, the benefits must increase.

One interpretation of Philip Harting's statement is therefore: Trade fairs have now reached the limit of what exhibitors can financially bear.

That's one side of the coin. The other side is: trade fairs aren't expensive if the benefits remain high. Organizers must increase the value of trade fairs for their exhibitors and visitors in the future – and consistently make this transparent, for example, by communicating the business success their exhibitors achieve at trade fairs.

Increasing the benefits of trade fairs is probably one of the reasons why trade fair organizers are increasingly focusing on attracting more qualified visitors and making matchmaking programs between exhibitors and visitors more relevant and measurable.

When the domestic market weakens, organizers need to attract more international exhibitors and visitors from abroad, and the good news is: this process remains extremely successful; internationality in the German trade fair sector remains very high. According to AUMA, more than 99,000 foreign exhibitors (+1.5 percent) and 2.8 million foreign visitors (+2.9 percent) participated in trade fairs in 2025.

The top exhibiting nation in 2025 is China with a share of more than 18 percent, followed by Italy (around 11 percent) and the Netherlands (5 percent), Spain (4.5 percent), the USA and Turkey (both 4.4 percent). China also ranks among the top 5 foreign visitor nations with 4.5 percent – however, behind the Netherlands (7.3 percent), Austria (7.1 percent), Italy (6.8 percent) and Switzerland (6.4 percent).

Exhibition stand construction: Providing more consulting services

Exhibition stand construction companies are the most significant beneficiaries of a functioning trade fair industry. But when this industry falters, there are fewer exhibitors and exhibition stands tend to be smaller. This results in a considerable economic loss for the trade fair sector and its secondary beneficiaries.

In this process, exhibition stand construction companies must therefore focus even more on the trade fair success of their exhibitor clients, and a key to this will certainly be the expert use of artificial intelligence for interactive exhibits, hybrid exhibition stands, visitor analyses and digital lead capture.

Many of their clients are not only looking for a striking trade fair design, but increasingly also support in brand presentation, visitor activation, and lead generation. In challenging times, however, cost-efficient concepts are also gaining ground, thanks to modular and rental stands and scalable solutions. As has been emphasized several times already, the environmental aspect of trade fair stands in production, construction, and transport will no longer be a "nice to have" in the future, but a categorical imperative for trade fair construction companies. The shared challenge for trade fair organizers and stand builders going forward is determining the measurable business value their trade fair generates.

What does the decline in trade fairs mean for Switzerland?

Fewer trade fairs and fewer exhibitors also characterize the trade fair business in Switzerland. Exhibition stand construction companies have been compensating for this decline for many years with a thriving event business in some areas, but price pressure is high here as well.

The decline in trade fairs in Switzerland has many causes and concrete consequences – economic, structural, and strategic. Trade fairs are a significant economic factor in Switzerland, impacting tourism, the hotel industry, stand construction, and logistics. When fewer fairs take place, these indirect effects diminish considerably. Studies show that billions of francs in added value and tens of thousands of jobs were previously dependent on the trade fair sector. A decline therefore means less revenue for entire regional ecosystems surrounding the exhibition centers. Trade fair cities like Basel, Bern, Geneva, and Zurich are particularly affected.

Organizers are losing important sources of revenue because fewer exhibitors are participating, visitor numbers are stagnating, and leading trade fairs are being canceled or downsized. This has led to restructuring in recent years.

Not all trade fairs are experiencing the same decline. Highly specialized and efficient trade fairs for exhibitors and visitors, such as those organized by Easyfairs, are successful, for example, all about automation maintenance in Zurich or the packing trade fairs Empack and Logistics & Automation in Bern and, alternately, in Zurich. The trend is clearly moving towards targeted specialist platforms and specialized industry events.

Is there going to be a WEF II in Basel?

The trend towards specialized industry events is also evident at the MCH Group, which, in light of the decline in trade fairs in Switzerland, is now attempting to establish an elite event for the super-rich, leveraging the Art Basel network, as reported by Vanity Fair and the Basler Zeitung. It is intended to be a high-profile international business gathering for investors, industry representatives, and policymakers, similar to the World Economic Forum in Davos. " The meeting of the global elite in the Grisons mountains may soon no longer be the only such event in Switzerland," the Basler Zeitung stated on March 23 .

Conclusion

"The rumors about my death are wildly exaggerated," the poet Mark Twain once said. Similarly, the trade fair industry has been predicted to be on its last legs for 800 years, ever since the first mentions of the Leipzig or Frankfurt trade fairs. Of course, this will not happen.

But the trade fair industry has been undergoing a multifaceted transformation for several years, perhaps even more so since the Covid pandemic. This is why the business of organizers in Europe is stagnating, while the most dynamic growth is taking place in emerging regions such as Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Organizers in Germany and Europe will critically examine their local portfolios, expand strong international flagship trade fairs, merge smaller or weaker formats, or discontinue some events altogether, as can already be observed in many places.

Interestingly, according to AUMA , visitor numbers are rising by 0.9 percent. So the demand for personal interaction and trade fairs isn't disappearing. But exhibiting companies are becoming more cautious, tightening their budgets for trade fairs in Europe and likely focusing more on fairs in growth regions.