A Trade Fair App, Not an Exhibitor Directory: What Organizers Can Learn from HANNOVER MESSE 2026

The previous HANNOVER MESSE app mainly showed who was there. For 2026, it was meant to focus on interaction. How Deutsche Messe AG made that happen shows what matters in a trade fair app.

The scale was big: from April 20 to 24, 2026, around 110,000 visitors came to Hannover to meet around 3,000 exhibitors, roughly 40 percent of them from abroad. On top of that came a packed supporting program of stages, forums and masterclasses on vast exhibition grounds.

The key question: How do many individual digital offerings become one central digital touchpoint that gives visitors orientation and connects them with exhibitors?

Three teams, three sets of requirements, one system

At a trade fair of this size, the requirements of three teams come together:

• Conference management: a consistent program across all stages and an application process for masterclasses.
• Digital and IT project management: integration with existing systems such as login and ticketing, and clean data flows between them.
• Sponsoring and digital services: an app that lets the organizer sell advertising slots and digital packages to exhibitors.

Then there is a reality every trade fair knows: in the days before opening, visitors are at their most active and exhibitors at their least, because they are busy with stand construction. A system therefore has to work in a way that keeps exhibitor effort to a minimum during this phase.

What a trade fair app needs: four building blocks

For HANNOVER MESSE 2026, talque delivered digital participant and application management and the branded HANNOVER MESSE app.

For visitors: orientation instead of searching. The ticket lives digitally in the app. An interactive hall plan shows points of interest. The program brings together more than 1,600 sessions across all stages, forums and interactive formats in one place, from the Center Stage to Expert and Spotlight Stages to round tables, speed dating and dynamic tours.

For exhibitors: encounters instead of a profile page. Exhibitors present themselves with a profile and products, and attendees book meetings with them. Masterclasses, speed dating and round tables bring exhibitors together with interested attendees in a targeted way.

For conference management: formats you can control. Application management for masterclasses and digital signage screens for around 30 stages and formats that automatically hide past sessions and make program changes visible on site.

For digital and IT: integration instead of an isolated solution. Login via the trade fair's existing registration and transfer of attendee data via a ticket webhook.

Not a big bang, but step by step

talque was already in use for conference management and digital participant management, both for HANNOVER MESSE and for other Deutsche Messe events, from LIGNA and Infa to DOMOTEX. In 2026, digital participant and application management and the branded app were added.

In the weeks before the fair, the project ran on a central task list, from configuring the formats and the hall plan to the app releases. On site, talque's project management was involved from the hostess briefing onward.

Four takeaways for trade fair organizers

Interactive formats need digital control. Masterclasses with applications, speed dating and round tables can be planned on one platform, shown in the program and displayed on digital signage screens on site.

One system reduces effort for everyone involved. Program, hall plan, ticket and networking from a single source mean fewer interfaces, less duplicate data maintenance and clear responsibility.

Land & expand reduces risk. Instead of switching everything over at once, Deutsche Messe started with conference management and expanded in 2026 with participant and application management and the app.

People, not a ticket system. A dedicated project team that knows the event and is on site makes the difference at a trade fair of this size.

Read the full story in our HANNOVER MESSE 2026 case study.

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