Bauma 2022 attracts nearly half a million people

While the world has changed drastically since the last bauma was held in 2019, the trade fair has managed to still draw in massive crowds of nearly half a million people keen to inspect the latest and greatest equipment and technology in the construction industry. 

The show, held once every three years at the grounds of Messe München in Munich, Germany, was held last week from October 24 to October 30.

According to organisers, 3200 exhibitors from 60 countries signed up to display their wares and services, which were viewed by more than 495,000 visitors from over 200 countries over the seven days.

The expo was truly an international affair, with nearly 65 per cent of exhibitors and 50 per cent of visitors coming from outside of Germany, organisers said. The top 10 exhibitor countries were, in order: Germany, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, France, the United States, Austria, Spain and China.

“After the world fundamentally changed following the last bauma, we’re really thrilled that bauma 2022 demonstrates the trade fair remains a powerhouse of the construction-equipment industry thanks to our customer’s great variety of innovations, good business deals and many visitors from all over the world,” said CEO of Messe München, Stefan Rummel.

Exhibitors of the show shared the same sentiment as they reported very positive responses from their participation at the show, such as the Wirtgen Group and Liebherr.

“The interest in our company and our innovative and sustainable products was simply overwhelming. Our participation in the industry-leading trade fair bauma was the most successful in the history of the Wirtgen Group,” said Domenic Ruccolo, CSO of Wirtgen Group and Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Support for Global Construction Equipment at John Deere.

Steffen Günther, a member of the Board of Directors of Liebherr, said the show proved to be a very successful trade fair for the company.

“We generated a lot of enthusiasm among the large audience. The conversations were outstanding. We’re already looking forward to the next bauma trade fair now.”

Not only did visitors express interest and ask plenty of questions at the show, some exhibitors also managed to make deals and sales during the show.

“Visitors flocked to our stand, and we had a lot of very good discussions. From the very first day we were able to achieve sales success on the same level as 2019 and beyond,” said Wacker Neuson Group Chief Sales Officer, Alexander Greschner.

Scaffolding and formwork expert, PERI, said it experienced great success at the show from day one.

“What’s particularly noteworthy to mention is the quality of the conversations we had during the week of the trade fair: they were exceptional in all respects,” said PERI owner, Alexander Schwörer.

“We also signed a number of very attractive contracts right at the trade fair. In short, bauma 2022 more than exceeded our expectations.”

This year’s bauma fair shone a light on the future of construction and what it looks like, exploring emissions reducing equipment, automation and more.

There were plenty of hydrogen and electric-powered equipment on show, as the construction industry starts moving away from diesel-powered machines.

“The exhibitors are offering solutions to address current challenges related to CO2 neutrality as well as tackling the issue of skilled worker shortages with automation and digitalization. This is the future,” said Joachim Schmid, Managing Director of the Construction Machinery and Building Material Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA).

“You see this with the traditional companies and with the nearly 50 startups at the trade fair for the first time.”

The next bauma will be held in Munich from April 7 to 13, 2025.