How Much Does a Stand at Trade Fair Cost in 2024

The cost of an exhibition stand depends on its size and the materials that exhibitors plan to use in the construction. This is only the price to build the trade booth. This central part of the general cost of an exhibition is only 60% of the total cost estimate for the event. So, how much does it cost to build an exhibition booth?

Each company determines its budget for exhibiting. Usually, future cost estimates are generated based on spending in previous periods, adjusted for inflation and wage increases. After the responsible department has formed a budget for the Messe, marketers do the preparatory work and start looking for the exhibit contractor.

But, before the price of constructing an exhibition stand is determined, marketers must give the production company a ready design of the future structure. Depending on the booth design, you will get the price from the agency to the building.

The cost of design’s part in exhibition stand construction

The exhibition stand design is created by designers who specialize specifically in the creation of exhibition structures. You should consider this feature if you plan to save on design and involve your in-house designer. Employees who draw advertisement materials or do web design will not be able to create an exhibition booth design.

Some exhibition agencies offer display design services. The design cost can be included in the construction price of an exhibition booth if the customer ultimately likes the design and decides to cooperate with the agency on the project. Our agency provides free-of-charge services for creating and introducing corrections into the design if we build an exhibition stand and supervise the projects in the future.

Design agencies can also order exhibition stand designs as a separate option. More often than not, the design cost is based on the size of the stand itself and an understanding of the budget to be spent on purchasing the exhibition structure.

In this case, the design agency will take certain costs per square meter of future exhibition space. For example, if you plan to rent 40 square meters of exhibition space, the cost of design will cost you (calculator):

40 m² * price per m² = the price of the design.

Designers need the planned estimate for building an exhibition display to understand how many complicated elements of design they can use. The more complex the design elements, the brighter and more original your stand will be, and the more visitors will want to visit it at the conference.

For example, smooth corners can increase the costs of an exhibition stand by 40 percent or more.   For this reason, the designers who work on the drawing of the stand must have experience in the relevant industry.

How the cost of a trade show booth is determined

Even before you give an agency the task of creating a design for an exhibition stand, you must understand what type of stand you plan to build.

This is the task of marketers, and it comes from the goals the company is pursuing at the chosen Messe in Europe. The company’s budget for the upcoming event also plays an important role.

So, you already know the space to rent from the organizer of the future conference. You understand what your budget should be counted on; now it remains to choose what type of stand you will order from the agency. Depending on the area and location of your future conference at the exhibition, you can choose from several variants of basic trade show booth designs.

Costs of a portable exhibition booth

A portable exhibition stand is notable for its size and ease of assembly. Such a stand occupies a small area and can be assembled and dismantled by customer employees.

A portable booth is a lightweight, standard design that can be used at various exhibitions if the client is holding an exhibit show often. The customer’s goal at such trade shows is to introduce the company’s products to the visitors.

Such a construction is very popular with companies that test the effect of participation in exhibitions for the first time, are on a limited budget, or are just beginning to participate in international trade fairs.

The square meter cost of such a structure can start from 100 to 450 euros.

How much does a modular exhibition stand cost?

A modular exhibition stand is a variant of an exhibition stand that consists of individual blocks.  You can assemble them into a complete structure at any time. Design options for modular stands are limited to the modular blocks from which the stand is assembled. Modular frames are sufficient for many tasks at the Expo in Europe and different conferences.

The construction of a modular stand can be represented as assembling a ready-made model according to the instructions of a constructor. They are as easy to assemble as Ikea furniture or Lego toys.

Modular stands are quite a light and reliable construction. If it is planned for multiple uses, the customer company employees can eventually assemble and disassemble such a display for the international Expo.

Such a stand is suitable if you plan to use the exhibition construction often or if your design does not imply complicated design solutions. Modular frames are only one story, but some design solutions can provide for the construction of large areas.

The price of constructing a modular exhibition stand can vary from 400 to 1,000 euros per square meter.

The cost of building a custom exhibit stand

If a company wants to be attractive to visitors at a trade show, it should consider building an exhibition stand with an individual design. Such an exclusive project implies a higher cost for an exhibition stand, but the return from such a marketing solution is much higher.

A custom exhibition stand is designed considering the company’s wishes and future marketing activities at the stand. Therefore, the time required for design development and approval of the stand by the client is usually longer. The optimal development of an exclusive design is 7 to 10 working days. For the designer to utilize the full potential for creative solutions, he needs to understand how much you plan to build an exhibition stand for.

Understanding the goal, the designer can suggest using unique materials, such as a wall of living plants, TV/AV walls, the author’s decor, unusual forms of the booth, and suspended structures. Thus, the designer’s imagination in fulfilling your order will be limited only by the approximate cost of the exhibition stand.

The cost of a custom-designed exhibition stand can vary from 500 to 1,500 euros per square meter.

What affects the cost of an exhibition stand

The cost of constructing an exhibition stand depends directly on the following:

• The size of the booth construction (building area, the height of the walls of the structure, story, and so on):
• The type and number of components that the exhibition construction will consist of (depends on the size of the stand, the complexity of the design, and the finishing materials used);
• Materials used in stand construction (the use of green technologies for material production, as well as parts of the structure that are recyclable, will increase the cost of building an exhibition stand);
• Additional services and equipment will be needed to implement the project.

The cost of an exhibition stand could be significantly affected:

• A digital video wall or more LED panels;
• Exceptional or sophisticated audio or video systems, for example, if you plan to conduct advertisement activities during the show or want to demonstrate a visual installation to engage visitors;
• Exhibition graphics of non-standard sizes, wall shapes, or graphics that are not suitable for standard methods of design;
• The country in which the conference takes place and the prominence and scale of the exhibition itself;
• The place at the exhibition itself where the exhibition stand will be built. The costs of an exhibition stand depend significantly on the exhibition area where you will be given space. The more prominent the place, the more expensive it is to rent;
• The cost of renting an exhibition space. Often, the budget for renting space itself is up to a third of the total budget allocated for the exhibition event;
• Labor costs for your employees who will participate in the event;
• The cost of travel expenses for your staff. Often, rentals at nearby hotels become significantly more expensive during large, well-known international trade shows.

The cost of additional services for exhibition organization

Non-obvious expenses should also be included in the budget allocated to the trade show:

• Daily cleaning at the display;
• Organization of catering during the event;
• Employee catering costs;
• Repair of structures on-site or after the show if exhibitors plan to reuse the booth;
• Storage of the structure until the next event;
• Shipping of the elements to the place of storage and its subsequent installation and dismantling.
• Organization of involving activities and shows;
• Production of advertisement materials and gifts for customers;
• Rental of personnel for photo and video shooting of activities to use this material for advertising and advertisement for the company.

Are you interested in the price of building an exhibition stand at an international EXPO in Europe or in the world? To estimate your project, we ask you to leave an application in the form on our site. We can calculate your project in the shortest time.