With sales of €496 million in 2008, the Messe Düsseldorf Group is the most successful German trade fair company and the most successful trade fair company with its own site in the world. In this exceptional year, 32,488 exhibitors presented their offerings to nearly two million visitors. The Messe Düsseldorf Group is one of the world’s leading export platforms with over 50 trade fairs, including 23 world No. 1 events, in five areas of expertise – machinery, plant and equipment, retail and trade, skilled trades and services, medicine and health, fashion and lifestyle, and leisure – at Düsseldorf and some 120 proprietary events and participations abroad. Messe Düsseldorf GmbH also has the most international capital goods fairs: Almost 60 percent of exhibitors and over 50 percent of visitors to Düsseldorf come from abroad, and customers from a total of 151 countries attend our Düsseldorf events. The Group’s global corporate network includes 66 foreign representative offices serving 117 countries and competence centers in nine countries. The Group workforce averaged 1,503 employees in 2008.