The world’s largest trade show organizer continues to diversify its global activities. This includes running shows in Southeast Asia, the USA and – in future – Latin America. There, at the crossroads of the continent, in Panama, the ‘carga logistica Americas Summit’ will take place from 15-16OCT24. The fair will be held in cooperation with the World Trade Center Miami, a partner with whom Messe München has already worked closely and successfully in the USA.
“We recently sat down in Florida to discuss joint growth opportunities. The result was the concept for a trade fair in Panama with a focus on conferences, i.e. a somewhat modified format compared to traditional logistics trade events,” explains Robert Schönberger, Global Industry Lead at Messe München.
Logistics hotspot
Panama is, geographically and transport-wise, a very accessible location for exhibitors and attendees. It is also an exciting location because of the Panama Canal, and the country is focused on logistics from top to bottom, says Mr. Schönberger, citing the main reasons why Messe München (MM) and the World Trade Center Miami (WTCM) jointly chose to host the event there. The location offers a unique infrastructure that serves all modes of transportation and is the gateway to Latin America, emphasizes a joint press release.
Ivan Barrios, President & CEO of World Trade Center Miami, stresses that the show will give both partners as well as air, sea, and road logistics providers a foothold in the fast-growing Central and South American market: “With a focus on Latin America in 2024, the event serves one of the fastest growing markets in the world, which also plays a critical role in the global transportation and logistics landscape.”
MM diversifies its global activities
At Messe München, diversification of events has been on the agenda for quite some time. Corona was not the only challenge for the trade fair business at home and abroad: the Russian war on Ukraine, inflation, or disrupted supply chains. “These effects have an impact on our company, on our customers, on the value chains of the industries and thus also on our trade fair business,” say the two Messe München bosses, Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel.
To weather the storm, the trade fair organizer focuses on its core business, digitalization and getting a foothold in new growth markets. These include Southeast Asia, the USA, and Latin America. Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel: “China is and remains an important focus and market for Messe München. Overall, one lesson resulting from the new global challenges, is that we aim to reduce dependencies. That is why we are diversifying our international strategy.”
Creating relevant platforms
At the upcoming Panama conference, Messe München intends to bring in its international network and long-time expertise in running trade events, while the World Trade Center Miami will primarily focus on business contacts with the local and regional Latin American economy. Barrios and Schönberger jointly stated: “We want to create relevant platforms for the industry so that exhibiting companies can maintain existing contacts as well as make new ones and, above all, initiate business.”
On the other hand, Messe München is no longer the organizer of the TIACA Air Cargo Forum (ACF), which was jointly held for the first time in NOV22 and intended to be run thereafter every two years in Florida. However, TIACA, which is also based in Florida, has decided against continuing its cooperation with Messe München. Instead, the organization contracted the U.S. agency, McVeigh, to coordinate future shows.
Heiner Siegmund
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