Dutch fair numbers fell to 509 in 2025 while visits edged up to around 4.7 million

The Netherlands staged 509 fairs in 2025, 31 fewer than a year earlier and a fall of 5.7 percent, which leaves the count 9.1 percent below 2019. Both segments shrank, but unevenly: trade fairs went from 204 to 195, down 4.4 percent, while consumer fairs went from 336 to 314, down 6.5 percent. Attendance moved in the opposite direction. Total visits stayed at around 4.7 million and rose again by 1.4 percent, though they remain 20.2 percent below the 2019 total. Horecava was the largest trade fair of the year on 72 thousand visits, with a large increase, ahead of Bouwbeurs Utrecht on 67 thousand and Rundvee & Mechanisatie Vakdagen and IBC on 45 thousand each. The 25 largest trade fairs together took 47.1 percent of all trade fair visits. For an exhibitor, the combination of a shorter calendar and steady attendance points to a market consolidating around fewer, larger events rather than one that is losing its audience.