December the 5th, 2024 – The Zagreb Fair (Velesajam) has turned losses into an incredibly impressive 200% increase in operating profit, breathing new life into the capital’s famous complex.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, 2024’s season for the Zagreb Fair will end with the organisation of two complementary fairs – CroAgro, which is dedicated to agriculture and everything related to it, and the Food and Healthy Living Fairs.
Renata Suša, the director of the Zagreb Fair, looked back this year’s business results. She managed to turn the minuses in the company’s business, which manages the urban and environmental heritage of the capital, into pluses. She stated that that same growth in numbers will continue in 2024, adding that more work should soon begin on the renovation of the complex in Novi Zagreb, which hasn’t been invested in for a very long time.
The aforementioned fairs will conclude an exceptionally dynamic year in which the Zagreb Fair organised nine fairs in seven fair periods, while around 50 other external events were held at the complex. The most successful fair this year, as in previous years, was the incredible Interliber, having been visited by over 120,000 people. Interliber might be the most famous, but other fairs have also achieved good, and some even excellent, results, according to Suša. Both Biam and Zavarivanje, for example, recorded a 15 percent increase in the number of exhibitors.
“Over the last three years, fairs at the Zagreb Fair complex have been growing by 25% in terms of revenue on average,” pointed out Suša. She added that an added difficulty was repositioning this competitive and demanding industry on the market following the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re more than aware that we can’t just lie on our laurels. It’s really necessary that we truly invest significant energy into the Zagreb Fair in order to keep on developing further. This year, after a long time, we invested in modernisation, we purchased new equipment for our stands, new lighting and so on. In addition, we’ve taken a somewhat different approach to marketing,” she revealed.
The aforementioned was also reflected in the Zagreb Fair’s incredibly impressive business results. Business revenues this year should grow by 14% compared to last year – to 11.6 million euros. Operating profit, which last year amounted to 736,000 euros, will be as much as 200% higher in 2024.
“We’ve employed a lot of people and as such, we rely less on external suppliers. We’ve also changed out business processes, which all contribute to this large increase in operating profit,” she explained.
When asked if there are any plans in the works to expand the Zagreb Fair’s offer, she said that they’re continuously considering it, but at the same time they remain very cautious.
“The essence of fairs is trust that needs to be justified. If we make a wrong move, it isn’t only our failure, but also the failure of all of our exhibitors. It’s the same with the success of the fair. At the same time, we’re limited by space, and fair activities are very seasonal”, poineds out Suša.
Encouraging business results have finally opened up space for much-needed investments in the infrastructure of the Zagreb Fair. Suša announced that the rehabilitation and asphalting of traffic areas worth two million euros should begin in a few months. The renovation of the Đuro Đaković pavilion, for which a conceptual design is being prepared, should also begin this year.
“Just two years ago, we were facing some very serious challenges – we were overly indebted, with extremely poor liquidity. For the last two and a half years, we’ve focused all our resources and efforts on stabilising our business situation,” Suša said when looking back at when she took over the management of the Zagreb Fair in early 2022.
Fast-forwarding to now, it’s a stable company, but it can hardly carry out the revitalisation project that has been discussed for decades on its own. For that, they will need the genuine and unwavering support of the City of Zagreb.
