Utrecht, 25 May 2022 - Royal Jaarbeurs has managed to limit its loss in corona year 2021 to 5.6 million euros. In the first corona year, 2020, Jaarbeurs still made a loss of 12.4 million euros, compared to a net profit of over 12 million euros in 2019. Thanks to the strong starting position at the end of 2019, cost savings and the government's corona employment scheme (NOW), Jaarbeurs 's financial position is still solid. This allowed Jaarbeurs to use 2021 to further strengthen the sustainability of Jaarbeurs and its digital services to exhibitors and visitors.
The corona pandemic will still have an impact on Jaarbeurs's activities in 2022, as will geopolitical developments and rising energy prices. Nevertheless, Jaarbeurs remains confident about the future.
CEO a.i. of Royal Jaarbeurs, Franka Morssink: "We see after the lifting of most of the corona measures in March, that people's desire to see each other live again is strong. We are not yet at the pre-corona pandemic level, but we are seeing a good recovery in the national market, a market in which Jaarbeurs has traditionally been strong. We also saw a big impact in our international business in China and Southeast Asia recently due to local lockdowns, but even there the market is recovering quickly once corona measures are lifted."
Jaarbeurs investments in 2021 included the creation of the Dutch Health Hub, the online platform for healthcare and life sciences professionals. It also opened the Jaarbeurs Studio for online and hybrid events. At a number of in-house exhibition titles, experience was built up in setting up communities and organising (complementary) online activities.
Investments in the plans for De Nieuwe Jaarbeurs continued at a modest level in 2021, given all the uncertainties, without abandoning the ambition to (further) transform Jaarbeurs in Utrecht into a sustainable and 'smart' event location.
The 2021 annual report is available jaarbeurs http://jaarverslag.jaarbeurs.nl.
