The True Cost of a Trade Show: What Nobody Tells You
Analysis of hidden expense items and realistic savings to expect from digitalization. With supporting figures.
Key points of the article
- ✓budget
- ✓analytics
- ✓savings
When we talk about ROI in events, figures quoted are often fantasy. "Save 60% on your costs", "300% ROI guaranteed"... Let's be serious.
I've compiled real data to give you an honest view of what a trade show costs and what you can actually save.
Anatomy of Trade Show Costs
Let's take an average professional trade show: 150 exhibitors, 8,000 visitors over 2 days.
Fixed Costs
Hall rental: between 20,000 and 80,000€ depending on city and period. Paris Expo Porte de Versailles isn't Eurexpo Lyon which isn't Montpellier Exhibition Center. This item generally represents 25 to 35% of total budget.
Technical: sound, lighting, electricity. Count 15,000 to 30,000€. This is where surprises are most frequent. The initial quote never covers all needs discovered during setup.
Insurance and security: 8,000 to 15,000€. Mandatory and non-negotiable since post-attack reinforcements.
Variable Costs
Staff: this is where things get interesting. Between general secretariat, exhibitor management, reception, setup... A 150-exhibitor show easily mobilizes 8 to 10 people for 3 months, then 20 to 30 people on D-day.
Communication: print, digital, PR. Variable budget from 10,000 to 50,000€ depending on ambition.
Printing: catalogs, signage, badges. Historically 10,000 to 20,000€, this is the item that melts fastest with digitalization.
What You Actually Save with Digital
I'll be direct: promises of 50% global budget reduction are lies. Here's what's realistic.
Printing: -70 to -90%
This is the most obvious and measurable gain. No more paper catalogs (2,000 copies × 5€ = 10,000€), no more printed A2 floor plans, badges generated on-site instead of pre-printed.
Realistic savings: 8,000 to 15,000€ per edition.
Management Time: -30 to -40%
Automation of registrations, payment reminders, logistics information sending frees up time. But beware: this time isn't always convertible to hard cash savings.
If you have a permanent team, they'll do something else (which is good). If you hire temps, then yes, you save.
Realistic savings on temps: 5,000 to 10,000€.
Errors and Disputes: Divided by 10
An exhibitor assigned the wrong location can be expensive. In refunds, commercial gestures, crisis management time.
A system that avoids duplicates and traces all exchanges drastically reduces these risks. Hard to quantify, but real.
The Cost of Digitalization
Let's be transparent about what it costs too.
Tools
A complete event management platform: between 200 and 800€/month depending on features and user count. That's 2,400 to 9,600€/year.
If you organize 2 to 3 events per year, that's 1,000 to 4,000€ per event.
Implementation
Plan 2 to 4 days of initial setup. If you do it in-house, it's time. If you use a provider, count 1,500 to 3,000€.
Training
Half a day per user. Negligible if included in subscription, otherwise 500 to 1,000€.
The Honest Calculation
Let's take our 150-exhibitor trade show again.
Annual savings:
Digital investment:
Year 1 ROI: (22,000 - 9,500) / 9,500 = 132%
Year 2+ ROI: (22,000 - 6,000) / 6,000 = 267%
It's not the 400% announced by some vendors, but it's solid and realistic.
Non-Financial Gains
What's poorly measured but counts enormously:
Less stress. Knowing at D-7 that 95% of your exhibitors have paid, received their badge, know their location... changes everything.
Professionalized image. An exhibitor who receives professional communication, has access to a clear portal, easily finds their information... associates that with overall event quality.
Ability to grow. Going from 100 to 200 exhibitors with Excel is a nightmare. With an appropriate tool, it's a matter of configuration.
What Doesn't Change
Digitalizing doesn't solve everything. Here's what will remain difficult:
Human relations. An unhappy exhibitor won't be soothed by an automated email. Someone still needs to pick up the phone.
Content quality. A show with nothing to see remains a show with nothing to see, with or without a mobile app.
Attendance. Online ticketing facilitates registration but doesn't create demand. Paris Games Week 2025 had 188,000 visitors. If the exhibitor lineup had been less attractive, no digital tool would have compensated.
My Take
Trade show digitalization isn't a speculative investment. It's a rational choice with measurable returns.
But you need to be realistic about expectations. It's not a magic wand. It's a tool that saves you time, reduces errors, and professionalizes your image.
If your margins are so tight that 15,000€ in savings changes your financial balance, then yes, it's a game-changer. If you're comfortable, it's added comfort.
Either way, the calculation favors digitalization. But do it with realistic numbers, not marketing promises.
Calculation method: Averages observed on 100 to 200 exhibitor shows in France, 2024-2025 data.
