Geneva auto show revamped for 2024 as 'affordable' event

Organizers plan a modified exhibition concept and lower hotel costs.

July 12, 2023 05:42 AM

The Geneva show was cancelled in 2020 (pictured) as COVID-19 spread around the world.

The Geneva auto show will return in 2024 with a new, "affordable" concept for exhibitors and visitors.

The exhibition, previously held every year, has not been held since it was cancelled in 2020 in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.

Organizers plan to hold the show from Feb. 26 to March 3 next year in its traditional home at the Palexpo convention center near the Geneva airport with a modified exhibition concept and lower hotel costs.

"The halls in Geneva have been rented and also already paid for," Sandro Mesquita, the Geneva International Motor Show company's managing director, told Automotive News sister publication Automobilwoche.

Mesquita emphasized the payment to counter speculation that the show was only a half-hearted attempt at revival and that it could be buried again without high costs if necessary.

Organizers have developed a new concept for the show to significantly reduce the high costs of exhibiting that have put off many auto companies.

"We are offering exhibitors preconfigured booths, so they do not have to build their own booth. We call this plug-and-play," Mesquita said.

The booths are smaller and less elaborately designed than those seen in the past. "Exhibitors just need to choose the color of the booth and bring their branding," Mesquita said.

"Of course, exhibitors are equally welcome to have their own booths," he added.

The show is also trying to reduce the high costs of hotel rooms during the show. In the past, hotel owners have considerably hiked prices.

"We have signed framework agreements for reasonable prices with 16 hotels in all categories. There will be no last-minute surcharges," Mesquita said.

Organizers expect 10,000 journalists and 300,000 visitors to attend the event over the seven days. This is much more modest than the last auto show in March 2019, when 600,000 visitors attended.

The show is sponsored by Qatar Tourism, which is holding a similar event in the country's capital of Doha from Oct. 5. to 14 this year.