Utrecht, 14 April 2025 - Using the title 'Together for a sustainable future', today Royal Jaarbeurs is publishing its integrated annual report. This explains the progress made on the strategy and the added value created for customers, employees and society. The focus included increasing customer satisfaction, developing new (exhibition) concepts and strengthening its international position as a conference venue.
Highlights
- In 2024, Jaarbeurs welcomed 2.3 million visitors to Utrecht.
- Organisers rated Jaarbeurs with a score of 7.9.
- The number of major multi-day exhibitions and third-party (international) conferences increased from 38 in 2023 to 49 in 2024.
- The male/female distribution within Jaarbeurs is almost equal, with 51% men and 49% women.
- Gender equality is an important issue within the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) policy. Men and women are paid equally at Jaarbeurs for equal work; there is no gender pay gap.
Successful events and new initiatives
Jeroen van Hooff, CEO Royal Jaarbeurs: "Jaarbeurs looks back on a successful year with 24 of its own trade and consumer exhibitions in Utrecht. Several new initiatives were launched, including the Impact Fair, DigiBouw, Travel & Tech, Future Facade and the European Smart City Expo (ESCE). In addition, the education trade fair IPON and knowledge platform IPON.nl were acquired to strengthen its position in the education market."
Leading international event venue
Jaarbeurs further strengthened its position as a leading international events venue. The number of large multi-day exhibitions and third-party congresses, including the prestigious international congresses EFMC-ACSMEDI Medicinal Chemistry Frontiers 2024 and the Future Green City World Congress, increased from 38 in 2023 to 49 in 2024. In addition, 2,903 smaller conferences and meetings took place.
International trade fairs
From the Netherlands, Jaarbeurs organised four international trade fairs in 2024: VIV China in Nanjing, Health and Nutrition Asia in Bangkok, VIV Africa in Kigali and Cybersec Europe in Brussels. From its participation in VNU Asia Pacific (VNU AP), nine international trade shows and several conferences were organised in Southeast Asia.
Financial
The year 2024 was dominated by strengthening the customer-oriented organisation, increasing financial awareness within the realisation of events and strengthening activities from supporting services. The positive result in 2024 was strongly influenced by the sale of the stake in the Chinese joint venture VNU Exhibitions Asia (VNU EA). This sale allows Jaarbeurs to position itself more strongly both in the Netherlands and internationally, outside China.
Sustainability
In the 2024 annual report, Jaarbeurs for the first time presents its results according to the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) classification for the first time.
Photo: In collaboration with Better Together Agency, Jaarbeurs initiated the first edition of the Impact Fair in 2024 - Photographer: Samuel Wagner
