Around 430,000 visitors are expected to trawl through the halls at this year’s edition of the hugely popular German show, which kicks off at the weekend.
The impressive stats of the world’s largest indoor trade show speak for themselves. With roughly 2,700 exhibitors from 52 different countries signed up for this year’s event, Agritechnica is the only show to completely fill all 23 halls at the Hannover Fairgrounds.
Organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), Agritechnica project manager Timo Zipf, one of around 300 DLG staff working on the exhibition, outlines a few more impressive figures for the seven-day event.
“Around 450 tractors, 30 combines and many thousands of machines will be on display,” he says, adding that many manufacturers have been busy building up the stand since mid-October. “In the seven days before the doors open the exhibition grounds are visited by as many as 1,000 trucks a day, half of which are over 7.5t.”
Anyone that thinks that the current malaise in the agricultural sector has had a negative effect on Agritechnica is wrong. The show is fully booked and many of the major players requested a larger stand area.
“Given the current economic situation we are positively surprised by this and above all it demonstrates confidence in our event,” comments Mr Zipf, “although we regret that we have no more space to give them.”
The show project manager confirms there is a waiting list of exhibitors who would like to secure a spot at the show. “Sadly, we haven’t been able to accommodate them this year but at the same time, it clearly highlights that the technology and innovations are there – and that exhibitors are eager to showcase them.”
While many international visitors will fly into Hanover, for the first time in the show’s history, DLG has introduced a major new initiative in that the trade fair entry ticket now includes free access to local public transport, offering participants significant savings in both time and money.
Those of you that regularly drive to Hanover will know it pays to get there early to secure a spot in one of the four car parks at each corner of the showground (total space for 24,000 vehicles).
“They are always packed,” confirms Mr Zipf. In fact, the DLG is preparing for even more vehicles this year and for the first time has reserved 2,000 spaces at Hannover Airport for trucks that would otherwise be parked on the exhibition grounds.
“This will free up 2,000 additional car parking spaces at the show and we have created another 1,000 parking spaces close to the fairground. This allows us to accommodate a total of 27,000 vehicles, giving us plenty of options to significantly reduce the bottleneck.”
To organise an event like this needs many thousands of people on the showground every day of Agritechnica. Stand staff account for the majority, while others are responsible for security, cleaning, catering, internal show transport, etc.
Back to the halls. The 23 structures alone cover a floor area of 38ha: larger than your average German farm. The 30km of carpets lining the aisles are kinder on the legs than bare concrete, but anyone that has spent a long day trawling the show will know it is easy to clock up well more than 20,000 steps.
An easier option for those visitors not keen to fully test the strength of their legs is to jump on a shuttle buses. The DLG tells us that these often take visitors to the hall of their choice, so we might put this to the test.
If you are still seeking a place to stay, then you’ll probably need to dig deep into your pockets to secure one of the last of Hannover’s 20,000 hotel beds, although, as the DLG points out, get2fairs is worth checking out and has affordable beds even at short notice. Pictures: DLG
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