Jaarbeurs Utrecht

The first Dutch Jaarbeurs (annual fair) took in place in 1917, on the initiative of the Utrecht department of the “Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat” (association for goods made in Holland). Right after the start, Jaarbeurs proved its important position with regard to bringing together people and markets. Where this first Jaarbeurs of 1917 with 690 participating Dutch companies was attended by more than 150,000 visitors, nowadays we yearly welcome over 4 million visitors.

After World War II, Jaarbeurs developed into an internationally operating company. Where in the old days the attention was focused on sales, now it is mostly hosting relations marketing. Examples are branch events, brand events, and internal communications events. Thus, Jaarbeurs grew to be a beacon in the information economy.

Fairs are and will always be fixed values in our modern information society. Integration with other media such as internet, printing, and audio-visuals, enhances the interaction at the fair, the live portal where people and markets meet.