The Finnish Fair Corporation has published its 2024 annual report and the results are strong. Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre (also known as Messukeskus) hosted nearly 900,000 visitors, with revenue rising 13.9% to €58.4m.
In 2024, the venue organised 36 trade fairs, hosted 25 guest events and welcomed 450 meetings, congresses and other productions. Several events broke their previous visitor records.
€68.7m boost to Helsinki
Eight international congresses were held at the venue in 2024, attracting over 34,000 participants. These events generated an economic impact of €68.7m for the city.
BÖLE Arena & Club, which opened in 2023, hosted six entertainment events in its first full year, drawing 20,000 guests.
New events and new partnerships
The venue added a new public event, the Food Fair, to its exhibition portfolio in 2024. It also announced a ten-year partnership to host the Helsinki International Horse Show from 2026.
A €6m, 5,000-seat movable grandstand will be introduced in summer 2025. It will allow more flexible use of space for congresses, sports and large-scale corporate events.
Recognised by Taloustutkimus
In the 2024 TEP survey by Taloustutkimus, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre received the highest shared overall rating among Finnish event organisers. It ranked top for exhibition space functionality, service diversity and delivery reliability.
“Our economic and employment impact on the capital region is substantial,” said CEO Anni Vepsäläinen. “In 2024, we generated €245m for the Helsinki metropolitan area and we aim to grow that to €400m by 2026. Our latest project, the Solar event space, represents a new step forward in attracting major international congresses and corporate events to Helsinki.”
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Comments are closed.