Future of Trade Shows: Panel during EUROSHOP 2026

yellow stage in hall 1, panel discussion EUROSHOP 2026

EuroShop – The World´s No. 1 Retail Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany

has proven to be a great meeting place for trade fair and event professionals! Vibrant halls and discussions from 22-26 February, 2026. No surprise, it's certainly impressive when stand builders design their own stands in their own hall (here no. 1). Everywhere you go, familiar faces.

The world of trade shows is vibrant and diverse, but especially large-scale trade shows are facing new challenges. In today’s fast-changing landscape they remain unrivalled in their ability to provide industries and communities with a visible, tangible home base – a place where people truly feel they belong.

Here are some of the points we discussed in our panel on 25th February, 2026 in Düsseldorf with Victoria Vehse, Rowena Arzt, Sebastian Witt, Patrick Apolinarski and Jorg Zeissig, that we believe is key for their future:

🫂 Creating belonging in a trusting, real environment. Trade shows provide a home for industries, communities – offering young professionals and newcomers overview and direction and all other reassurance, to be in the right industry or on the right path.

 💬 Interactive formats. Many trade fairs are simply too large and offer too much. We need to deliver individual value, therefore more formats for smaller groups. Foster real connections through 1-2-1 talks, workshops, and shared experiences within big trade shows for people of groups less than 30.

✂️ We need tools, that not only offer all information in one place, but tailored communication for individuals. Currently communication and tools are often still too complicated and not very intuitive.

🧑 Human-centered design. Short inputs for younger audiences, more rest areas and essentials like phone charging stations. Consideration of neurodiversity accessibility.

 🤝 Organizers as moderators. We have to go beyond being service providers. We need strong relationships with our customers on visitor and exhibitors side to better understand needs and pains. There are a lot of great examples out there already. 

As challenging as it is, it's great fun to see the development. Especially when we do this together in our ecosystem! Juliane Jaehnke First published on LinkedIn 2nd March, 2026