Following negotiations and rumors that the International Consumer Electronics Fair (IFA) could move to another city, gfu and Clarion Events have now reached an agreement with Messe Berlin that the IFA will continue to be held in the German capital remains. There should still be changes.
The IFA is now held annually at the exhibition center under the Berlin radio tower, after previously changing to a two-year cycle. It is still considered the world's most important trade fair for consumer electronics and home appliances and has so far not shared the fate of CeBIT, which was discontinued with immediate effect at the end of 2018 after the trade fair had previously been looking for a concept with ever-changing approaches – sometimes with end customers and players, sometimes explicitly without players. In the end, this back and forth, together with the growing importance of other trade fairs and the product presentations outside of trade fairs, caused CeBIT to end. The IFA has its origins in Berlin, where it first took place in 1924 as a radio exhibition.
The agreement that has now been reached initially provides that the IFA will continue to be held in Berlin for the next ten years is.
IFA as a digital event and startups in focus
In order for the IFA to retain its place and remain successful in the future, the event will be managed by the newly founded IFA Management GmbH. This is a joint venture that gfu Consumer & Home Electronics GmbH, brand owner of the IFA, together with Clarion Events Ltd, a global independent events organizer headquartered in London. The new IFA managers plan to expand the digital offer and the IFA NEXT brand in the future in order to further open the event to start-ups and innovative product launches. Investments are to be made in order to create more incentives for trade visitors, sponsors, exhibitors and the general public in the future.
Among other things, the joint venture has set itself the goal of to let the IFA take place both as a live and as a digital event in the future in order to “exhaust its full potential”. Important IFA exhibitors are to be closely involved in this concept, according to the announcement.
Back on site this year after the pandemic break< /h2>
In September of this year, the IFA took place again in attendance after a two-year break due to the pandemic. More than 161,000 visitors came to the event over five days and the IFA 2022 was considered a success, which should also be confirmed by the trade visitor numbers. The proportion of trade visitors increased compared to the 2019 event. According to the organizer, more than half of the event space has already been reserved for 2023.