The first five months of 2008 were very positive for the Swedish Exhibition Centre. Visits to the fairs (388,000) were up by all of 29%.
 
"And we can't see any signs of this upward trend slackening off," says Ulrika Carlsson, Business Area Manager Exhibitions.
 
The exhibition year began with a chain of public events - MyDOG, Boat Show, On Two Wheels, Wellness, TUR, Baby & Child and EuroHorse - all of them record-breaking or close to.
In addition, trade fairs like The Auto Fair, Underhall, and Machine Tools were also well attended.
 
A total of 388,000 visits were recorded for the January-May period. The figure for the corresponding period 2007, which was one of the best ever years in the Swedish Exhibition Centre's annals, was 301,000.
 
"These are, of course, very gratifying figures. They show that the exhibition medium remains strong and underscore the importance of personal meetings," says Ulrika Carlsson.
 
"The upswing is particularly interesting, since the exhibition results mirror the economic climate. And we know that a lot business is done at the events. In fact, many exhibitors report record results. So as far as we're concerned, we cannot see any downward trend in the economy."
 
The Swedish Exhibition Centre's other business areas - Goteborg Convention Centre, Hotel Gothia Towers, Restaurants, and Arena - have also done very well in the first five months of the year.
 
"The whole Group is positively booming," says Lennart Mankert, President and CEO.
 
"Our current priority lies in extending our premises. This autumn will see a temporary extra hall of 1,000 square metres. But we are focusing especially on converting the upper storey of the adjacent Focus building into a new hall, which will increase our exhibition area by almost 20 per cent," concludes Lennart Mankert.