BOE INTERNATIONAL 2025 kicked off the year with over 400 exhibitors from 10 nations covering all segments of the event industry – from technical innovations to proven products and services as well as truly captivating show performances. The supporting programme accompanying the show focused on the lead topic of artificial intelligence flanked by other key industry topics such as future business direction, the economy, marketing, event security, personnel skills and recruitment as well as community building and networking. With higher visitor numbers, BOE on 15 and 16 January proved once again that it is one of the most important events in the industry, spanning national borders.

Dortmund, 23 January 2025 – The event industry has always been highly competitive and is developing rapidly in technological terms with artificial intelligence and with immersive applications such as virtual, augmented and mixed reality. On top of this come macro factors such as persistently high inflation rates, sharp rises in energy prices and current economic performance, all of them putting additional pressure on the event business. “For commercial success, it's more important than ever to keep one's finger on the pulse, make valuable contacts and keep on growing skills and capabilities. Industry meet-ups such as BOE offer professionals the opportunity to discover more about the latest products and developments, share best practice and actively shape the future of live communications. As an outstanding forum for doing business, discovering innovative technologies, sharing knowledge, uncovering new market trends and networking, BOE INTERNATIONAL is a go-to diary date for everyone in the event industry,” said Sabine Loos, Managing Director of Westfalenhallen Unternehmensgruppe which owns and operates the Messe Dortmund venue.

Markus Illing, Chief Executive of the German Concert and Event Industry Association (fwd:), also stressed the importance of the international experiential marketing show, saying: “Especially at a time of relative uncertainty, it's clear how important it is for our industry to be engaging face-to-face. The challenges facing the event industry are fairly major, but they're matched by high levels of commitment to developing solutions and approaches now. We'll be continuing to work unswervingly to further strengthen the relevance and visibility of the event industry, and it's precisely these goals – inspiring and engaging with each other and making joint progress – that BOE pulls together really impressively.”

Highly international exhibition

BOE INTERNATIONAL 2025 drew visitors to Dortmund from many countries including Switzerland, Austria, the Benelux countries, Turkey, Finland, France, Greece, Italy and Croatia. The exhibitor line-up was equally international, with over 400 suppliers from 10 countries impressing trade visitors with a 360° overview of all facets of live communications. BOE's recently acquired membership of UFI – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry – and its associated certification are further proof-positive of its high quality standards and international relevance.

High exhibitor satisfaction

According to an independent survey, around 80% of exhibiting businesses from Germany and abroad are up-beat about the prospect of doing good business in the wake of the show. Over 93% also said their expectations of the show were met or even exceeded, with 86.5% of suppliers intending to present their products and services at BOE INTERNATIONAL again next year.

Top marks from trade visitors

Satisfaction among visitors – over 85% of whom are decision-makers in the purchasing and procurement process – improved yet again over the previous year's figure, with respondents rating the comprehensive range of products and services and the show's supporting programme as 'good' (equivalent to a Grade 'B'), also praising the supporting programme for its high quality, cutting-edge subject matter and, above all, for adopting artificial intelligence as its lead topic. Around 85% of visitors said they were already in favour of attending BOE INTERNATIONAL 2026.

“Artificial intelligence has already revolutionised, optimised and individualised the event industry in lots of areas. BOE gave people a comprehensive overview including forward-looking approaches, perspectives and suggestions both on stage and at a host of special events. This too went down really well with show-goers. As well as top speakers in the industry, our special guests from the worlds of business, racing and music really enriched the content at BOE, giving trade visitors real added value,” continued Messe Dortmund Managing Director Sabine Loos.

Gold, silver and bronze for the best projects in the industry

Once again, the eagerly awaited BrandEx Award ceremony was a big highlight at the popular BOE NIGHT, with the coveted trophies presented on the first evening of the show at the 2025 BrandEx Award ceremony in Dortmund. The big-name international panel of judges had made its decisions in a live session just a few hours earlier, honouring a total of 38 outstanding entries – 16 of them in the Event category and 22 in the Architecture category.

The 2025 competition achieved an impressive response with 141 submissions from 66 businesses, and one noteworthy feature was that direct client participation was higher than ever before, with a total of 17 end clients and institutions – a record in the history of the BrandEx Awards – putting their projects forward for the awards on offer in this highly respected creative competition.

2026 date now set

Everyone's already looking to the future, with the next BOE INTERNATIONAL – the leading event industry trade show – scheduled to be held at Messe Dortmund on 14 and 15 January 2026. With a highly promising programme and a host of exhibitors in various segments of the event industry, BOE INTERNATIONAL 2026 will once again be an unmissable highlight for everyone in the industry and for others with an interest in events.

BOE 2025 ... what exhibitors and partners had to say

Markus Illing, Chief Executive of the German Concert and Event Industry Association (fwd:)

“BOE INTERNATIONAL has shown yet again that it's one of the foremost places in our industry for getting together, and then there were the outstanding, award-winning achievements honoured at the BrandEx Awards which raised the bar once more and celebrated true creative excellence. Especially at a time of relative uncertainty, it's clear how important it is for our industry to be engaging face-to-face. The challenges facing the event industry are fairly major, but they're matched by high levels of commitment to developing solutions and approaches now. We'll be continuing to work unswervingly to further strengthen the relevance and visibility of the event industry, and it's precisely these goals – inspiring and engaging with each other and making joint progress – that BOE pulls together really impressively.”

Marcel Klee, Head of SYMA System Sales & Marketing at SYMA Deutschland GmbH

“The show's been a resounding success for us and exceeded our expectations in every respect. Looking back on our experiences and impressions, BOE 2025 gave us a great forum for presenting our latest SYMA System products and services to a broad specialist audience. We were able to establish lots of valuable contacts and conduct in-depth discussions with our customers and business partners. We've been especially impressed by the high quality of visitors and the great interest shown in our solutions. The favourable response and constructive feedback we've been getting confirm that we're doing things right and spur us on to continue to apply our very best efforts. For us, BOE's one of the most important events in the trade show calendar. It offers a unique opportunity to experience the latest trends and developments in exhibition stand construction, and to engage with colleagues in the industry. The show promotes dialogue and collaboration within the industry and plays a key part in driving innovation and setting new standards. Taking part in BOE is really important to us as a business, as it helps us reinforce our position in the market and keep on growing our expertise. We want to thank the BOE organisers for the superb way this year's show has been conducted, and we're already looking forward to the next one.”

Tobias Frenker, Business COO at VOMO Group

“Last year we were still occupying the shared space organised by fwd:, and this year we've been delighted to get our own stand for the first time. BOE has incredibly good footcount, a great atmosphere and an up-beat mood. We've been particularly impressed by the strong social media presence and by the concept the show follows. There's plenty of time for networking at the show. This is especially valuable, as the new contacts we've succeeded in making are really top-notch. BOE is becoming increasingly international, which makes the event even more high-value.”

Dr George Oostdam, Owner of FLEXZELT.DE

“We're extremely satisfied with this BOE. The major increase in trade visitors from the tent and marquee sector was especially pleasing, and this was also reflected in the high quality of visitors. Our excellent certification also helped us welcome numerous new customers to our stand. We're already looking forward to the next BOE in Dortmund!”

Sebastian Rudolph, Director of Sales & Marketing at Aventem GmbH

“BOE's been the perfect start to the year for us in presenting our new product. The BrandEx event in particular was an excellent evening with an inspiring awards ceremony, and it was great to see both events combined. We're already looking forward to the next BOE and will definitely be back!”

Magdalena Olyukova, Marketing Specialist for Germany/Austria/Switzerland at Cvent Deutschland GmbH

“This specialist event at the beginning of the year has been a great kick-off – engaging with people and gaining fresh inspiration. We presented and demonstrated our AI features at BOE, and they met with great interest. Visitors had the opportunity to try out the innovations then and there, making the show a valuable platform for us. Added to this is the fact that BOE also offers a great opportunity to get involved in skills training in the industry.”

Antoine Herbinet, CEO for Germany at EPHEMERE SQUARE

“This is our first time at BOE, and our goal was to grow awareness of our brand. The event is a great platform, and we've learned a lot, especially about AI. There were some fascinating talks on AI, which were very well received, and many people visited our stand to listen to these sessions. It's been a really cool experience. We will come back next year.”

Wouter Neven, Marketing Manager at FLEXFURN

“BOE is a great opportunity for us to expand into the international market, and we've generated a lot of valuable leads here. We're pleased with how well the event is organised and are already looking forward to returning next year. The conversations have been engaging and relaxed, and we really liked the variety of exhibitors which made for interesting talks and a highly productive show.”

Ole Dörlemann, General Manager of Flexotels GmbH

“We found taking part in the BOE Guided Tours to be extremely valuable as they enabled us to present our premium product to a larger audience. This gives exhibitors an excellent opportunity to home in on the right points of contact.”

Gerald Pott, Managing Director of Grand Hall Zollverein GmbH

“We're absolutely delighted with the show. BOE is highly regarded in the industry as it offers the perfect opportunity to meet potential customers and address the right target audiences. We engaged in a host of important and promising business conversations and touched base with industry-specific players, be they suppliers, subcontractors or business partners.”

Roland Weiss, Key Account Manager at hms design solutions GmbH

“Our presentation at BOE was a great start to the year, showing how valuable personal contacts and the deepening of business partnerships are in our industry alongside an awareness of what developments are going on. We've been able to present new visual concepts, hold inspiring conversations and field specific project enquiries centred around using exceptional, strikingly designed objects and systems to create event experiences – an approach that's way up there on planners' and organisers' wish-lists.”

Dorothee Schulte, Head of Sales & Marketing in the Department of Communication & Business at IST University of Applied Sciences

“Once again we're delighted with how BOE went this year! The event industry's appeal remains very high, and we've been delighted by the eagerness of the many visitors coming to our stand to find out about skills training opportunities and taking their first steps in the event business. The interest shown by many training partners in JOBORAMA, the BOE event exchange launched this year, was equally high. We're especially delighted at how the programme on the DIGITAL & EVENTS STAGE really rocked the place once more (we were again honoured to put together Day 1 of the programme). We will definitely be back on board at next year's BOE.”

Wiebke Heyder, Head of Marketing & Communications at Neumann & Müller GmbH & Co KG

“The audience at BOE showed high levels of interest, and the content of discussions was pleasantly varied. Our goal of increasing our brand presence was achieved very well. We were able to present our innovations, and there was definitely a lot of interest – a successful appearance.”

Johann Sparenberg, Account Manager at Party Rent Bomers GmbH

“Like every year, BOE's a very special industry gathering that provides a great setting for launching into the new year. Here, exhibitors have the opportunity to present themselves and their products and make valuable contacts with business partners. BOE Night, in particular, was a great highlight offering excellent opportunities for networking and engaging in inspiring discussions.”

Carsten Ponsar, Senior Marketing Manager at Stadionwelt

“As media partner to BOE, we look forward to meeting our clients and seeing new faces every year. The high level of activity and high-quality discussions make the event a valuable forum for dialogue. We're looking forward to continuing our partnership in the years ahead.”

Nathalie Vandeweerdt, Modular Exhibits Director at theinside

“The quality of the stands at BOE increases every year, something that makes the show all the more impressive. For us, BOE's been an excellent opportunity to present ourselves to the German market. We're absolutely delighted with how the show went.”

Sabrina Brautlacht, Head of Marketing at von Hagen GmbH

“At BOE, both the quality and quantity of visitors have increased significantly, making the event even more valuable. The conversations have been informative and enabled us to present our product innovation, the new media technology from oneled, in a targeted way. This innovation sees us offering the industry real added value, opening up new possibilities for impressive event experiences.”