TRADE-SHOW organiser Koelnmesse has developed an app called CHEQ that for the first time enables trade fair visitors to calculate the individual climate footprint of their trip to the event.
The software compares the emissions of a visit to an exhibition or trade fair with several separate trips to business partners not present at the event.
“With CHEQ we are making the ecological impact of trade fair participation measurable and transparent,” said Christian Glasmacher, Vice President Corporate Development and Sustainability at Koelnmesse.
“The tool provides reliable data that demonstrates the efficiency gains trade fairs yield for both businesses and the climate.”
CHECKING OUT CHEQ
Business event attendees can record their journey by entering their starting point choice of transport. In a second step, they select companies they met at the fair from the exhibitor directory – and which companies they would otherwise have travelled to meet individually. CHEQ then calculates the journey’s carbon footprint and compares it to the avoided emissions from the individual trips that did not take place.
According to a study by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA), attending a trade show replaces an average of five business trips to customers, suppliers and other partners.
For international visitors, the average rises to eight trips. The reason: trade shows allow meetings, discussions, and networking to be efficiently concentrated in one place. Koelnmesse is now highlighting this substitution effect through CHEQ and making the results individually transparent for each visitor by quantifying the specific carbon savings achieved.
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“Travel is the largest climate factor for virtually all major public events,” said Glasmacher. “However, B2B trade fairs are unique in also offering this crucial networking and substitution effect, because as a trade fair attendee, I can meet the key players of my industry all in one place.
“If we want to discuss the climate impact of trade fairs honestly and constructively, we need to consider this positive effect. CHEQ allows us to do just that.”
Main image… No need for these trade show visitors to make a trip to another tyre supplier when they can attend The Tire Cologne. Koelnmesse’s new app can also show how much carbon footprint they are saving by not travelling to individual suppliers not at the trade show
