RIYADH: The German trade show market is continuing its expansion into Saudi Arabia with the launch of a fourth exhibition in 2026 organized by Koelnmesse, following the success of its first three shows.
The exhibition and trade show company conducts more than 80 trade fairs in Cologne and markets around the world, across various industries.
Senior vice president Denis Steker spoke to Arab News at the International MICE Summit in Riyadh about the company’s choice of Saudi Arabia as the next prime location to take the exhibitions forward.
He said the company operates across numerous sectors, including food, furniture, art and digital entertainment, and around the turn of the century started developing satellite shows out of Germany.
“What was mainly missing, of course, was the Middle East and specifically Saudi Arabia, which is now new on our agenda,” Steker said.
An example of this shift is moving of the International Dental Exhibition and Meeting, was held in Singapore for more than 20 years, to Riyadh for the first time in 2026.
This comes on the back of Koelnmesse having already organized FSB 2025 in the Kingdom, an international trade show for public space, sports, and leisure facilities.
The event centered around sports facility planning, construction, maintenance, and sustainability in sports.
Steker stated that FSB was important in the build up to the FIFA World Cup 2034, as well as supporting the growth of sports in the Kingdom as emphasized in Vision 2030.
Another exhibition held in Riyadh in 2025 was the International Hardware Fair, which showcased tools and power tools, as well the Orgatec Workspace exhibition which focused on the office environment and furnishing a modern workspace.
“If you look at the developments in the (King Abdullah Financial District), there are lots of offices that have to be furnished in the upcoming years,” Steker said.
In addition to the dental exhibition, all three shows from the past year will hold second editions in 2026 after successful first-runs.
As for what made Koelnmesse so confident that Saudi Arabia and the Middle East are the next prime spots for the company’s growth, Steker said he was personally “very impressed” by the development he’s seen in a short period of time.
“We have a good partnership here, we have good support from the authorities and from the Kingdom, and so we’ve already had really successful starts off the (first) three shows.”
Steker added that this partnership is proof of the blooming economic relationship between Germany and Saudi Arabia.
