President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Messe Frankfurt GmbH
IEE EXPO 2018 Interview Mr Wolfgang Marzin
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About Wolfgang Marzin
Wolfgang Marzin, President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt, has described trade fairs as "echte Seismographen der Wirtschaft" (true seismographs of the economy), stating that they reveal which industries are booming and where challenges may arise. He noted that Messe Frankfurt operates 28 subsidiaries across all continents except Australia, with recent expansions into countries such as Saudi Arabia. Marzin also discussed the shift from global to continental leading trade fairs, attributing this to factors such as visa restrictions and trade barriers. Marzin highlighted the importance of in-person events, particularly during the pandemic, stating that Messe Frankfurt held a trade fair during that period to demonstrate the importance of air quality in halls and buildings. He emphasized that trade fairs serve as neutral platforms for competition and innovation, and that the company has grown its portfolio in India from one show in 2010 to 25 shows. Regarding energy efficiency, Marzin noted that 40% of energy is consumed in buildings and described the light+building trade fair as a platform for the industry to work toward reducing that consumption.
Transcript (11 segments)
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Interviewer0:10
Hello everyone and welcome to IEE Expo. Today we have with us Wolfgang Marzin. He is the President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt. I am delighted to have him here. Thank you for being here. How many exhibitors are participating in this exhibition today?
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Wolfgang Marzin0:26
170 exhibitors are taking part, many market leaders. And the good thing is it's the whole range of the industry, from the suppliers to the OEMs. I mean from safety issues to new technologies, everybody's here. We're very happy that IEE Expo is growing, with a lot of exhibitors participating.
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Interviewer0:47
What kind of footfall are you expecting?
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Wolfgang Marzin0:48
Yeah, first of all, I think this is one of the industries that Messe Frankfurt organizes shows all over the world. But this industry – elevator and escalator – is the future. The future has only started. The population is growing in China and India in particular, worldwide. They all need to be transported very safely and as fast as possible. So this industry is a bottlenecking industry in my opinion. It's one of the crucial industries and is one of those that will pave the way in the future, because we need to live in high-rises. Seventy percent of 700 million people in India, and more – this all makes it very clear we want to be logistically always faster. For instance, at our fairground we have 10 kilometers of escalators and elevators, and we transport at our company 4 million people every year. So we know exactly how important it is. That's why it's a great industry, and this show will showcase very new technologies and the future.
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Interviewer1:50
What do you think are the future prospects of the exhibition industry all over the world?
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Wolfgang Marzin1:54
Messe Frankfurt has been organizing trade fairs for 700 years. We can witness that trade shows, throughout all centuries and all economic crises, have been a stable possibility to showcase, to meet, to find solutions, and to make the world better. Let me see that way. And we see most exhibitions are growing everywhere. I mean, the Internet is there, and of course we have some challenges here and there – economic challenges, trade barriers – but trade shows are always a way to break the ground for new technologies, to showcase work, and also to compete, which is important. If you have competitors on a neutral place like an exhibition, they always have to strive for the premium, they always have to strive for more. And of course we believe – not only because I'm working at a trade show company – that we can prove for hundreds of years that it is one of the best means. Of course, it's changing. We always have more fringe programs, conferences, sessions. The part of science is even more attached to trade shows. Also for India.
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Interviewer3:16
Also for India. If you look at what's going on in India – my first time in India was at Parsi Maidan in 1988 – how has Messe Frankfurt been in India for the past three years? What has been the financial growth of Messe Frankfurt in the past three years in India?
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Wolfgang Marzin3:28
Messe Frankfurt started operations about 20 years ago representing Indian companies and bringing Indians to our shows. But we very seriously started exhibitions in 2010. We started with one show in 2010; now our portfolio is 25, growing, growing, growing. We look for more in all ranges that we cover. Messe Frankfurt covers textile, consumer goods, technical shows, safety security, elevators escalators, and so on and so forth, light cars aftermarket. So our number of shows grew from one to over 20, 25. So we're growing. And these people, like the owners of the venue, like Mr. Patel whom I've known for two centuries, I guess, and his whole family – son, father – yeah, now we could be good tenants in Mumbai and Delhi and in other cities of beautiful India, and Shanghai which we show in Pune and so on, yeah.
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Interviewer4:37
In the last three years, how many exhibitions have you... maybe twelve?
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Wolfgang Marzin4:40
I have to go after these... I mean, you have the Internet. I'm just out of my head. We have PNTS, which is the largest consumer goods show. Then we added Auto Mechanika, I think that was three years ago – that's an aftermarket show together with ACMA, the association. It's fantastic. That shows real growth and it shows how hardworking and how intelligently the company is growing.
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Interviewer5:04
Great interview. Thanks for the great questions. Thanks a lot, thank you.