1920: Fiera Milano was borne
April 1920: the first Fiera Campionaria, 1200 exhibitors including 256 from abroad. Eight entrepreneurs organised the initiative in Milan on the Bastioni di Porta Venezia. Just two years later, with Royal Decree of Victor Emmanuel III of 1 July 1922, the Ente Autonomo Fiera Internazionale di Milano (Milan International Fair Independent Body) was established. In 1923, Fiera Milano was moved to the ancient Piazza delle Armi. The area, then on the outskirts of Milan, was bought by the Ente Autonomo Fiera Internazionale di Milano and was to host the Fair until the transfer of the offices and most of the exhibition spaces to the new area of Milano-Rho in 2006.
The Post-War years
The development of Fiera Milano ceased during the years of Fascism and the pavilions suffered significant damage during the Second World War. However, business quickly resumed after the War. The site destroyed by the bombings was rebuilt and the large Palazzo delle Nazioni (Palazzo Cisi) was constructed to host official delegations. With the participation of the USSR in 1951, in the middle of the Cold War, Fiera Milano became the commercial meeting point between East and West.
The economic boom
1960s and 1970s: the Fiera Campionaria di Milano became a decisive figure in boosting and promoting the Italian industrial boom, asserting itself abroad as the best-known and most prestigious showcase of Italian made products. 1985: the Fiera Campionaria made room for the great Fiera d'Aprile, marking the transition of exhibition activities from one general exhibition to several specialist sectorial events. The sectorial exhibitions, covering numerous production segments, became a permanent feature in the Fiera Milano calendar from 1991.
1990s
September 1997: the expansion of the city exhibition site was completed with the inauguration of three new pavilions in Portello (former Alfa Romeo premises), increasing Fiera Milano’s exhibition capacity.
1999-2000: the change
The Ente Autonomo Fiera Internazionale di Milano obtains in 2000 a new status as a Foundation. The Fondazione Fiera Milano is the owner of the property and brands, but does not run the operations, which are entrusted to the subsidiary Fiera Milano Spa.
Fiera Milano SpA rents from Fondazione Fiera Milano the exhibition centre and the congress centre and operates as a private service company.
The Fiera Milano Group
November 2000: Fiera Milano Spa set up the internet company Expopage SpA. This marked the beginning of a process lasting a couple of years and would lead to the establishment of Fiera Milano Group. It is an extensive organisation of companies through which the parent company Fiera Milano SpA controls all the exhibition and congress business segments: from managing the exhibition and conference spaces to the organisation of shows and the supply of specialist services such as stand-fitting, catering, promotion, internet and specialist publishing.
Stock Exchange listing
November 2002: the Stock Exchange authorities admits Fiera Milano SpA to listing in the STAR segment of the electronic stock market. The company was floated successfully on 12 December 2002. Fiera Milano Spa is the only exhibition company in Italy and one of the few in the world to be listed.
The new site
March 2005: the new fieramilano exhibition site is inaugurated. The complex offers 345,000 square metres of covered exhibition space, plus 60,000 outdoors, and a vast congress centre. The structure is built in Rho-Pero, in the immediate hinterland of the city. The clients appreciate the functionality and flexibility of the spaces, the technological services and the logistic rationale of the complex which facilitates stand building and break down, easy access and parking.
Internationalisation: the agreement with Deutsche Messe
January 2008: Fiera Milano signs a joint venture agreement with Deutsche Messe, which owns the exhibition site in Hanover. This unprecedented partnership was intended to develop the exhibition activities of the both companies in new, exciting markets outside of Europe. The partnership resulted in two operational companies which organise professional fairs in China and India.
EXPO 2015
March 2008: Milan wins the 2015 Universal Exhibition. Fiera Milano, which strongly supported Milan’s candidacy, offers its expertise in the international promotion of the event and in the fundamental support services. A long transition process begins, during which the partnership with EXPO 2015 gets progressively closer. Fiera Milano obtains the role of “Official Partner for operations” for EXPO. Through its subsidiaries Nolostand and Fiera Milano Congressi it was awarded the contracts for outfitting and activity management at the Centro Congressi and Auditorium of Expo 2015. It has also leased to EXPO, until 10 November, areas totalling about 120,000 square metres inside the fieramilano
Fiera Milano also offers its services as a primary supplier to countries taking part in EXPO with their own pavilion, not only for conception and production of the display fixtures and fittings, but also for catering, on- and offline communication and hospitality.
exhibition centre (in Rho), destined for handling and parking. Fiera Milano designed the nine collective pavilions (the “clusters”) for the Universal exhibition, Pavilion Zero and Expocentre and conceived the indoor stands for the themed areas (Pavilion Zero, Future Food District, Children Park, Biodiversity Park) and for the Italian Pavilion.
Lastly Fiera Milano forged alliances with the world’s leading operators in outfitting and organisation of major events, with the goal of offering EXPO participants outstanding professional services covering all possible areas: stand design and realisation, facility management, human resource management, catering and marketing, communications and events, technical pavilion management, logistics and customs.
Reorganisation and internationalisation
Growing competition in the exhibition market and the emergence of new needs and methods of business communication and promotion prompt Fiera Milano to rethink its internal organisation and range of services offered. This gives rise to a process of transformation prompted by the economic recession, which hit in 2008, and puts a series of measures into motion: reduction and strict control of running costs; Group streamlining by merging its subsidiary companies; identification of new business areas; repositioning of its flagship events and strengthening of its exhibition portfolio; accelerated internationalisation, which becomes a primary strategic goal. On the latter front the joint venture with Hannover Messe is flanked by the acquisition of trade fair operators in Brazil, South Africa and China. A partnership is also forged with a local operator in Singapore. The re-launch of its own exhibitions leads to the radical overhaul of MACEF, changing its formula and name in 2014 to become HOMI. The organisation of professional exhibitions outside Italy is strengthened with the launch of global brands: FoodHospitality World (which groups together the food and professional hospitality sectors); HOMI Russia; Reatech (rehabilitation) in Brazil, Italy, Singapore; Sicurezza in Italy and Brazil.
