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As of late 2024, the China Import & Export Fair Complex (Pazhou Complex) was the world's largest exhibition hall, with a gross hall capacity of approximately *** thousand square meters. Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) followed with *** thousand square meters, while the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center and the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) tied for third place, each with *** thousand square meters. All four largest venues were in China. The fifth- and sixth-placed spaces were in Germany: Messe Hannover and Messe Frankfurt had little more than *** thousand and *** thousand square meters, respectively.

An industry in recovery

With dozens of players across the globe, the trade fair business is a multimillion-dollar industry. But it remains far from pre-pandemic heights. The coronavirus outbreak turned 2020 into a defining year for this field. Online meetings and events became paramount, starting a new era where, even after COVID-19 subdued, many people did not necessarily feel the urge to attend an event in person. As a result, in 2022, very few trade fair organizers – three out of 18 – recorded revenues higher than three years earlier.

Is trade show marketing effective?

While the first years following the pandemic indicated a bleak scenario for the industry, most of its participants remained confident about their businesses' capabilities. According to a survey released in early 2023, approximately ** percent of trade show marketing professionals in the United States felt hopeful about their field's effectiveness. Another ** percent described their perception as optimistic.