A survey of Bauma attendees has found that 90% of respondents who attended the last edition of the event in 2019 plan to also attend Bauma 2022 this year, although more than half are not aware that the event has been rescheduled to October.

In a survey of 49,603 people who participated in the survey, it emerged that the remainder who did not plan on attending the event this year were basing their decision mainly on Covid-related issues.

Meanwhile, among those that said they would attend, almost 60% were still unaware that the event has been rescheduled to October from its usual April slot. In a break-up of this between exhibitors and visitors, it stood at more than 70% for the former while almost 60% of prospective visitors were unaware of the postponement. The survey also found that while members of the global press were best informed, even among them almost 50% did not know about the date change.

The survey was conducted by construction sector media outlet Lecture Press and comprised nine questions about attendance in the current and previous editions of Bauma. It also asked respondents about their goals and expectations on bauma 2022, awareness of the event’s organisational issues and, if not attending, the reasons for their decision. The survey was conducted over three weeks from December 21st last year to January 9th, and was done in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and German. While the 49,603 respondents came from all around the world, the countries with the largest numbers were Germany, France and Austria.

The survey also found that while most people planning to attend the trade fair this year identified themselves as machine owners (25%) or contractors (24.7%), there were also significant numbers of service providers, comprising 10.8%, OEMs 12.8% and dealers 10.4%. Decision-makers comprised 6.7% of those surveyed while 3.4% were representatives of rental companies. Around 81.4% of respondents would attend as visitors, 13.9% would be exhibitors and 4.6% were from the media.

Among the most anticipated topics and themes of Bauma 2022 that the respondents were looking forward to at the event were future construction methods and materials, and zero emissions, with the visitors and the media especially looking forward to the latest in technology.

The last edition of Bauma, the world’s largest trade fair, took place in 2019 and attracted around 630,000 visitors from 217 countries along with over 3,600 exhibitors to the Messe München facility in Munich, Germany.