Interview: Intermat show director on ‘the magic of exhibitions’

IRN: You became Intermat director just over a year ago, but I think you had already attended the 2024 show?
Guillaume Schaeffer: Yes, I’m happy that I visited the 2024 edition, although at the time I didn’t know that I was going to be the next director. It was luck. I didn’t look at everything specifically, but it was good to feel the atmosphere.

So, tell us about the plans for next year
I think 2024 was a big bet for the show, because it was the new edition after six years of no show due to Covid. So it was good to see that we had almost 1,100 exhibitors at the show - 68% international exhibitors - and with the main brands present, so a lot of manufacturers.

Guillaume Schaeffer joined Comexposium in 2022 after a career with TotalEnergies. He was made Intermat director in early 2025. (Image: KHL Group)

And it was a success because we had 126,500 visitors from 130 countries - and one out of four of them were international. Of course, our strength is European, but also North Africa.

We managed to gather the whole sector, with our partners working a lot with the French big associations and the European federations. That was very important. Internet is a big show, but it’s also a big community.

And I think the success is to create and to speak, through Intermat, with the community, and with the federations. That’s why I would say we will be even stronger in 2027, as an international show. We expect more exhibitors next year, around 1,200.

What makes you confident about that?
We see that with rebooking and the registration levels, and we see that the big players want to be back. We already have many big brands registered.

For example, Manitou are already registered. We’ve got Liebherr, Kobelco, Komatsu – who are going bigger - Zoomlion, Fayat. Hitachi is coming [who will rebrand to Landcros in April 2027.] And there are many others which are in discussion. We feel that there is a lot of interest.

What kind of visitor levels are you targeting?
We target 150,000 visitors. That’s a big increase compared to 127,000, but I think we can do it because there will be more exhibitors, which will be a big draw.

And we are doing a lot of communication and promotion. It’s not just optimism, there are many actions that we have set up to support that aim.

We work hard to get top buyers, because of course it is important for exhibitors to have qualified visitors, from France, Europe, but also from North Africa. We see that there is high interest from top buyers from Africa, and not only the French speaking countries, but sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya.

Intermat organiser Comexposium is hoping to increase exhibitor numbers to 1,200 companies in 2027. (Image: Intermat/Comexposium)

We are working a lot with our local partners to organise an African Summit. We do a lot of roadshows to speak about Intermat, to meet the national, local associations, to promote the show and inivite them to come.

We always invest a lot in Europe from promotion, but now we are investing more budget to get visitors from Africa and Middle East.

[The African Summit will be held at the showground on the morning of 22 April 2027. A platform to discuss the continent’s infrastructure priorities, equipment needs and economic outlook, it will bring together industry leaders, government representatives and investors.]

What would you say to those who think you can conduct business virtually, without exhibitions
When you speak to exhibitors and visitors, they say, yes, maybe it’s a big trip, but in four days I managed to meet everyone I could meet in one year, or more. And I met people that I didn’t think I would, or I found an innovation that I wasn’t looking for or didn’t know was on the market.

That’s the magic of shows. You meet the people you want to meet and see the innovations, but also, in four days you get a view of the market – you see the trends, you talk to organisations. It’s the place you learn, you meet and where you find even more than you expected.

You are repeating the four-day format?
Yes. The show is from Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th. That’s what we did in 2024, four days instead of six, and that was good for everyone. The exhibitors were happy. We had a good response to the survey and there were no [adverse] comments on that. That’s a good format.

In terms of the general economic environment, how do you think the timing will be for the show next year?
We are quite optimistic. Speaking with our exhibitors and visitors, of course, the situation in the past year has been complicated. Hopefully it’s going to be better, and we see signs of that.

And what I feel also, in any case, is that everyone still has to innovate. And I see that they want to launch new machines in 2027.

There will be a lot of big projects in Europe. France is still a bit complicated, yes, but they have to do a lot for road infrastructure, for example. In Germany, they are investing a lot to renew major infrastructure, and bridges in Eastern Europe we see as well.

What about the product priorities for 2027?
We will have the five hubs of expertise. Earthmoving, demolition, lifting, of course, and we will also support a lot more roads, drilling and foundations. And for the second time, we have the fifth hub, which is new technologies and new energy.

And we also co-locate with World of Concrete Europe, which will be the fourth edition. We want it to be stronger, with 200 exhibitors. There is the offer from the exhibitors, and they’ve got their own forum and their own demonstrations.

Intermat plans a big increase in the size of the demo area at the 2027 show. Pictured is the demo zone in 2024. (Image: Intermat/Comexposium)

New energy and technology will be a big focus?
Yes. We did an event three weeks ago [earlier this year] with TotalEnergies as a major guest. And they will be part of the show. So, it creates a lot of dynamism. It’s the place to show innovation. That’s the first objective. And to meet and to speak with each other.

And so that’s why in 2027 we will gather all the French and European associations, like CECE [European construction equipment association], FIEC [European contractors’ organization], and ERA [European Rental Association], which are now much more with us.

Any specific plans for the rental sector?
The ERA will be part of the show and part of the conference programme. They will be part also of the industry hub. Rental is becoming more and more important for sure, so we are working with ERA and DLR [the French rental and distributor association].

What about the outside areas?
A big outdoor area is a part of the show, of course, and what is new is that we go back – like before Covid - to a bigger demonstration area, in real conditions, with earthmoving, etc. So back to as it was before Covid.

We had one last time, but it was much smaller. Actually, it was part of the outdoor exhibition area, but now we are going back across the road and it’s going to be more than 10,000m2 - a real demonstration area. That’s really something the exhibitors wanted to be bigger. So we are working on that.

How many firms will be in the demo area?
Around 20, or maybe more, depending on the need - if they want 200m2 or 1000m2 or more. And we’ve got the flexibility to make it even bigger, but we will go step-by-step.

More than 126,000 visitors attended the 2024 Intermat show. (Image: Intermat/Comexposium)

Is there a main theme for the show?
The most important thing for the show is to be the showcase of innovation. The main theme in 2024 was decarbonisation, with the exhibitors highlighting the innovations through this challenge to the sector of carbonization.

And for 2027 it will be sustainability. It means everyone will speak even more about the challenges of the sector. So, of course, that means environmental sustainability, decarbonization, but also economic and social sustainability.

We’re speaking also a lot about safety, about what we have to do - the safety of the users and the employees. And speaking about employees as well, how we attract talent to the industry. That’s a big challenge as well. So, students will come, but also new talent. We’re going to develop more the Intermat academy.

You will hold the innovation awards again?
Yes. There will be a big awards evening on the first day of the show, Wednesday 21st of April. That’s going to be a big event.

Guillaume Schaeffer, director of the Intermat exhibition, pictured in March 2026. (Image: KHL Group)

What about any changes to the transport infrastructure around the show?
That can be a big subject. We always try to work with the transport companies to make it the best for the visitors to go by train. Unfortunately, the new subway [Express line 17 connecting to the Parc Nord Villepinte exhibition centre] will not be open by the time of the show next year [it is scheduled to open in 2028].

Transport arrangements are getting better, and also with the taxis. And course we will have shuttles from the airports to help people. We help also when there are big delegations.

And I think Paris learned a lot from the 2024 Olympics.

Intermat takes place in Paris on 21 to 24 April, 2027. For details, visit the website here.