The German exhibition organisers are planning around 360 foreigntrade fairs in around 40 countries next year. This is the result of a survey conducted by AUMA - Association of the German Trade Fair Industry among the organisers of foreign trade fairs who are members of AUMA and the Special Association for Fairs and Exhibitions (FAMA). These exhibitions were geared to the standards of leading international trade fairs in Germany. Accordingly, they are summarised by AUMA under the seal “German Trade Fair Quality Abroad (GTQ)”. For 2020, 375 foreign trade fairs were originally registered; due to the corona pandemic, 107 trade fairs were rescheduled and 49 were cancelled.

The foreign trade fairs in 2019 went remarkably well. German exhibition companies organised a total of 330 trade fairs outside Germany in 2019, more than ever before. Compared to their respective previous events, the number of exhibitors increased by 2.4%. The number of visitors exceeded the nine million mark for the second time since 2017. A comparison with the respective previous events shows a 5.8 % increase in visitor numbers. Among the five events with the highest number of visitors were four automotive exhibitions and one trade fair for production automation. With the exception of one automotive exhibition in Korea, the shows were held in China. 

As Germany's most important foreign trade partner, China will remain the most important target market for German organisers from the AUMA and FAMA membership in 2021. Last year, 90 trade fairs were organised there. That is a share of 27 % of all foreign trade fairs of German organisers. Thirteen of the eighteen organisers held trade fairs in China in 2019. The four fairs with the largest

number of exhibitors were also held there.