From 11 to 13 June 2024, this city on the Limmat was the place to be for the international event industry. The UFI European Conference held at Messe Zurich set a new visitor record with 350 participants. And that’s not all the good news. Those who came were members of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry – one of the most important target groups for business tourism here.
All the big names in the trade fair industry met up in Oerlikon to attend the congress or one of its accompanying events. The topics addressed were those that are currently of greatest concern to the experts – from consolidation and sustainability through to new customer expectations and artificial intelligence. Nick Dugdale-Moore, UFI Regional Director Europe, says: “I am delighted with the overall outcome of the conference. I trust that the participants appreciated the content format, which also included voices from outside the industry, and that they took away some valuable lessons and insights.”
Forums were additionally held on human resources and operation services, and the second edition of the Event Directors Summit was staged. This event is aimed at 50 exhibition and portfolio directors and was launched at last year’s UFI European Conference in Maastricht.
The conference not only made an impressive mark in professional terms, however. The informal part also had a great deal to offer. Participants were able to benefit from the UFI Sports Club, a tradition at UFI events around the world. The Club aims to get the day off to a good start with movement and a smile, and this proved to be highly successful in Zurich. Interested participants had the opportunity to view the local sights on a jogging tour or to play footvolley with the Swiss national team. Once the official programme had ended, guests were also able to explore the surrounding countryside and take a guided tour behind the scenes of one of the world’s best chocolate manufacturers.
Roman Imgrüth, CEO of MCH Exhibitions & Events, is delighted that Messe Zürich was selected to host the conference. “The UFI European Conference is aimed at an interesting community. It was a pleasure to welcome them to Zurich and show them our compact venue and beautiful city”, he explains. “I would particularly like to highlight the Event Directors Summit – as a leading host in Switzerland, the attendees of this summit are naturally of great interest to us.” When compiling the programme, he was also helped by a schedule overlap. The programme thus included a visit to Art Basel, giving MCH Group the opportunity to present its second location to participants too. This has laid the foundation for many a successful follow-up event organised by UFI members!
