MCH Group, which was founded in Basel (Switzerland) in 1916, is a leading, globally-operating live marketing company. The group's portfolio includes services to meet all the needs of experience marketing. MCH Group provides community platforms worldwide, in physical and digital formats, together with bespoke solutions in all areas of experience marketing, including attractive multi-functional event infrastructures of its own, such as those in Basel and Zurich.

In recent years, MCH Group has laid the foundations for a successful future despite extremely difficult framework conditions. The capital increases, the entry of Lupa and the renewal of the Board of Directors have served to strengthen the capital structure, shareholder base and corporate management. The management and the Board of Directors have reviewed, confirmed and further developed the strategy. Several strategic initiatives have already been implemented and others are about to be realized. The operating result confirms the course we have adopted. Operating income in 2023 totals CHF 393.7 million and is therefore comparable with the previous year's result (2022: CHF 394.1 million).

The MCH Group portfolio includes national and international exhibitions of its own and also guest events (in Basel and Zurich). The companies in the Experience Marketing Solutions segment are active and networked worldwide.

At the start of the value chain are the customers, who require the right infrastructure and services (solutions) to stage their events and exhibitions. MCH Group provides a wide range of services in this value chain, which can vary according to the requirements.

Our physical, digital and hybrid experience marketing solutions are not just for trade fairs and exhibitions. We are also active worldwide in the entire live marketing market. We design and construct projects of all sizes, from individual projects to major sporting and cultural events (including pavilions at World Expos).

Upstream processes such as procurement, logistics and supplier selection, and downstream processes like waste management form an integral part of our value creation and are included in the sustainability assessment as material topics. We are moving ahead with the further development of our value creation in a continuous process, in dialog with our internal and external stakeholders and giving due consideration to sustainability criteria in all process steps and at all company levels.

Exhibitions, congresses and events generate a major direct and indirect economic benefit. A number of studies on the economic impact of exhibitions show that exhibition companies produce indirect returns that are eight to ten times greater than their own turnover. Only 20 to 25 % of the expenditure incurred by an exhibiting company when it takes part in an exhibition goes to the exhibition organizers. Some 75 to 80 % of its expenditure goes to different suppliers and service providers.

In Switzerland, the activities associated with MCH Group trigger sales of several billion Swiss francs as direct or indirect knock-on effects. This expenditure goes to the construction and ancillary industries (around 20 %), the hospitality industry (around 30 %), public transport operators (around 16 %), the retail trade (around 6 %), and different service providers (around 28 %). 1) The associated added value serves to create jobs and generates significant tax revenue for the confederation, cantons and communes.

Further effects exist that cannot be expressed in figures. These include, in particular, the positive influence of trade fairs as successful marketing platforms for the industries and companies concerned.

At the locations at which trade fairs and congresses are staged, these frequently have a “lighthouse effect” for tourism through their reach or appeal, which is transmitted to the city or country in question. The Basel region, for instance, benefits from the fact that the globally leading events of Art Basel in Basel, Art Basel in Miami Beach and Art Basel in Hong Kong carry the name of their “home city” throughout the world.

In 2023, the two Culture and Tourism Basel working parties led by the cantonal government launched the “I'm part of it” initiative, which is supported by all stakeholder groups. The shared goal is to make Art Basel visible, perceptible and tangible throughout the city by means of this comprehensive initiative aimed at boosting the welcoming culture. A range of measures – welcome and information desks at EuroAirport and the railway stations, flagging throughout the city and swimming in the Rhine with gallery owners – are designed to strengthen the partnership between all those involved.