Taking part in Baselworld is proving to be expensive for many brands. Several exhibitors complained privately last year that they were pressed into building larger, more elaborate and more expensive spaces, and into moving to less desirable locations.
A few said they were priced out of the show altogether. The cost of exhibiting in Hall 1.0, the most important area, was as high as $5m for long-term leases, according to several sources last year.
The $454.5m renovation of the Messe Basel exhibition grounds was undoubtedly a success in terms of the attendance at the 2013 edition of Baselworld. It attracted a record 122,000 attendees, a 17 per cent increase on 2012.