How XFAIR made its way out of the pandemic

The 2019 coronavirus pandemic presented us all with major, previously unforeseen challenges. In addition to the problems in the healthcare system and the impact on society in general and interpersonal relationships in particular, it also had economic consequences. Naturally, XFAIR was also severely affected by this, as events and trade fairs by definition serve as a meeting place for people from all over the world. This meant that our customers and, of course, we too had to get creative in order to continue to offer visitors and exhibitors a platform for networking while at the same time making the health of everyone involved our top priority.

We not only implemented this through the virtual trade fair experiment, but also provided the Kelheim vaccination center with our room booking software so that the large number of vaccination patients could be well organized and, above all, safely guided through the process.

Our comeback from the pandemic was successful primarily thanks to the close cooperation with our long-standing customers.

Highlights in the second half of the 2022 trade fair

From October 24 to 30, 2022, we were able to support 12 customers at Bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery and the world’s largest trade fair (in terms of exhibition space), in Munich. This included not only supporting the exhibitors in setting up their exhibition stands with the equipment for their information desks and the associated technology, but also a wide range of software solutions. This included our XFAIR apps, as well as store systems for various fan stores. The XFAIR crew also provided on-site support for various evening events.

Parallel to Bauma, the world’s most important trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry, K, took place in Düsseldorf from October 19 to 26, 2022. Here, we were able to provide six customers with our highly customizable service portfolio.

The scale of these two trade fairs and the corresponding dimensions of the scope of services were among the biggest challenges this year – especially after the long period of rest due to the lockdown situation, we went from zero to one hundred in a very short space of time. However, thanks to the great team spirit within the XFAIR team, which was able to benefit from additional temporary external support, this task was mastered with flying colors.

Due to the postponements in the trade fair calendar caused by the pandemic, Drinktec and IAA Transportation were also held as major trade fairs in 2022. The XFAIR crew not only managed eight customers at the same time in Hanover, but also took care of the largest exhibitor in Munich, which occupied a stand area of around 11,000 square meters.

For both trade fairs, it was extremely important to take into account the different lead times for the technical preparations during set-up. In particular, the laying of around 20 kilometers of cable – both indoors and outdoors – as well as the installation of 78 screens, 52 telephones and 403 LAN connections on the stand were a coordination challenge.

2023 – the return of international trade fairs

In the following year, things continued at a brisk pace – this time we were also able to support our customers abroad. Of course, we were also still on the road in Germany: just think of Interpack in Düsseldorf, Transport Logistic in Munich, Agritechnica and EMO in Hanover or Schweißen & Schneiden in Essen, where we were able to support a total of 19 customers at the same time. Nevertheless, the international trade fairs such as Auto Shanghai and ITMA in Milan remain unforgettable highlights for the team.

Summary 2024 and outlook 2025

In 2024, XFAIR solutions also helped to make trade fairs such as Intermat in Paris, NPE in Orlando and Drupa in Düsseldorf a success for the exhibitors, some of whom were represented on a large scale. The second half of the year will continue in the same vein: IAA Transportation (Hanover) is just around the corner again, as are EuroBLECH (Hanover) and Expo Real (Munich), but trade fairs such as Fakuma (Friedrichshafen), Automechanika in Frankfurt and InnoTrans in Berlin are also already fixed in our trade fair calendar. We will also be attending 15 international in-house exhibitions.

Furthermore, preparations for 2025 are already in full swing. In addition to the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg at the end of January and LogiMAT in Stuttgart in mid-March, the next Bauma is just around the corner in April 2025. Transport Logistic in June will precede Drinktec in September and K in October. We are also already looking forward to Agritechnica in November. If you would like to get and keep a better visual overview of the trade fairs in 2024 and 2025, you are welcome to take a look at the XFAIR trade fair calendar.

You can find more information about the XFAIR portfolio and how the team works with it on a day-to-day basis in our XFAIR blog, where our experts answer questions in our interview series and thus provide an insight into how they work.