During a press conference at the ConExpo-Con/Agg trade show in Las Vegas this week, Messee München, owner and operator of bauma—the world’s largest trade show—announced that it is expanding into South America.
In addition to the main bauma show, hosted every three years in Munich, the German trade show operator hosts or co-hosts several bauma sister shows including bauma China, bauma ConExpo India and bauma ConExpo Africa. The company also recently added the CTT trade show in Moscow, Russia, to its bauma Network.
In a similar deal to the CTT arrangement, bauma is partnering with Sobratema, the Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining, to co-host three trade shows in South America: M&T Expo, M&T Parts and Service and Construction Expo.
Klaus Dittrich, chairman and chief executive officer for Messee München, called South America “the most important market for us by far.”
Messee München managing director Stefen Rummel said the partnership with Sobratema is a 30-year deal.
“We realize that this is not an easy market,” Rummel says. “But it has a lot of potential.”
Messee München says the M&T Expo is of particular importance to the company. It’s the largest trade show in South America and, in terms of product portfolio, is comparable to bauma, according to a company release.
The company also announced figures for last year’s bauma trade show in Munich. The show welcomed 583,736 visitors and 3,425 exhibitors on 605,000 square meters of exhibition space.
Dittrich called bauma 2016 the “best bauma ever” and said Messee München is already at work on bauma 2019. The company is building two additional halls that will add 20,000 square feet of exhibition space to the already massive show.