In 2021, the international special events industry continued to be severely hampered by the lingering Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant restrictions placed upon it by local authorities. Special events were once again obliged to apply participant restrictions, distancing rules and special hygiene concepts, even closures and cancellations were necessary at certain times. Moreover, travel to Germany from overseas destinations was oftentimes only possible after stringent entry requirements had been met.

More than 80% of all special events held in Frankfurt in 2021 were business-related. This share clearly increased compared to the year prior (70%). The number of international events and overseas participants also increased in comparison to 2020, while the share of international event organisers holding special events in Frankfurt remained stable. Last year, the majority of overseas event organisers came from Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland.

Congresses, conferences and seminars dominated the market last year, much more so in Frankfurt than the German average. A total of 38,601 special events were held in Frankfurt in 2021 (purely physical as well as hybrid events). These events were frequented by some 1.14 million on-site participants (participants of purely physical events and on-site participants of hybrid events). This figure translates into an increase of +31.2% in on-site events and +25.2% in on-site participants.

As regards event size, smaller meetings (up to 50 participants) made up an overall share of 85.5%. The share of large-scale events (more than 1,000 participants) amounted to a mere 0.2%, only fractionally higher than the German average (0.1%).

At present, industry experts are anticipating both the number of physical events and the number of participants to increase in 2022. Moreover, they are also expecting pre-Covid figures to be exceeded by 2024, even if only slightly. At the same time, the experts surveyed are expecting hybrid and virtual events to remain present on the market, even if in slightly lower numbers. Either way, these event formats are certain to play a key role in the future of the special events industry as well.

In the following, please find our Meeting & Event Barometer Frankfurt 2021 as well as the statistics from the previous years in download form.

Meeting-& EventBarometer Frankfurt 2021/2022
Meeting-& EventBarometer Frankfurt 2020/2021

Meeting-& EventBarometer Frankfurt 2019/2020

Frankfurt Congress Statistics 2018

Frankfurt Congress Statistics 2017

Frankfurt Congress Statistic 2016