The WaiT is over! - Capricorn Society

FE ATURE
Frankfurt
A story of world trading
Automechanika 2012 held in September was truly
massive. Ten multi-level exhibition halls and one
huge congress centre, with more than 300,000
square metres of covered exhibition space. This
year’s staging of the automotive aftermarket’s
largest global trade fair saw the welcoming German
city of Frankfurt host almost 4,600 exhibitors from
a record 74 countries and an impressive total of
Of Frankfurt’s more than 1,200 years of existence,
more than 850 of them have been spent as a trade
fair city. This is also largely due to its geographic
location at the crossroads of Europe. This has
been a major advantage since very early in the
city’s history, being located along one of the most
important European trade routes
across the continent.
By 1951 the Books and Automotive (car show)
fairs became independent exhibitions, followed by
Fabrics in 1959 along with Heating and Plumbing
in 1960. Automechanika was created in 1971
along with many others including music fairs and
cosmetics fairs, in fact there are more than 40
fairs a year held in Frankfurt from those humble
beginnings.
more than 148,000 registered visitors over one
week.
This world leading automotive aftermarket trade
fair came to life in Frankfurt back in 1971, but it is
a mere baby compared to Frankfurt’s rich 800 year
history as a global trade fair site.
Back then, merchants and businessmen met at
the “Romer” a medieval building located in the
heart of Frankfurt that served as a market place.
From 1909 onwards, they would congregate on
the new grounds of the Festhalle, which is where
Messe Frankfurt’s massive exhibition centre is now
located.
Zapping you back to 1585, a group of 48 merchants,
all foreign to Germany and who had traded there
in the past, made a demand to the Frankfurt town
council to establish a “regular exchange” event. By
the 16th century Frankfurt finally became a centre
of international trade. The range of goods on offer
was as diverse as the mixture of coins being used to
purchase them, leading to the establishment of the
Frankfurt exchange. This created the foundations
for the future development of Frankfurt into the
finance capital of Europe that it is today, being the
birthplace of the Euro as well as the home of the
European Central Bank.
By 1855 exhibitors stopped bringing all of their
products to the annual Frankfurt trade fair (to sell
and showcase) as volume production increased,
making this impossible. They instead opted to bring
product samples. This was the birth of the trade fair
as we now know it, with company stands featuring
samples on display.
Both World Wars would have a profound effect on
Frankfurt’s position as a global trade fair leader,
particularly after the destruction of most of the
Festhalle and the surrounding buildings after World
War II. But in resilient form, in 1946 Frankfurt
Mayor Kolb announced that Frankfurt was going
to be a trade fair city once again, believing that
re-constructing the fair grounds and the fairs
themselves would help to kick start the re-birth of
the entire city.
The Frankfurt International Trade Fair held
in October 1948 welcomed 1,771 exhibitors,
46 of which were from outside Germany. The
economic and psychological effects of this trade
fair were enormous, paving the way for continued
construction and expansion of the expo grounds.
The increasing diversity of the products on
offer at these annual trade fairs led to a trend of
specialisation in trade fairs to suit specific industrial
markets.
Man has been finding ways to market products
for as long as products have existed. While the
centuries have passed, the basic premise of the
international trade fair or exhibition remains
the same, to gather merchants and suppliers /
manufacturers to showcase their products and to
establish new global contacts for distribution and
direct trade.
Of course in being a part of the Capricorn Society,
you have access to Stars Travel for the best priced
deals to automotive aftermarket trade shows like
Automechanika (which are now held all over the
world) , SEMA, AAPEX, PRIA (USA) and many
others. The best thing about visiting any of these
events is that they expose you or your product or
service to the world that exists beyond our shores,
creating opportunities for distribution and export
business and much more.
Capricorn Travel Australia Pty Ltd / ACN 008 926 645 / Licence No. 9TA164 / www.capricorn.coop
12 CAPRICORN IGNITION DECEMBER 2012