The Motives and Forms of Alliances in the Trade Fair Industry

This article endeavors to identify the motives and forms of alliances of trade fair organizers and to examine the complementarities between alliances and trade fairs. After discussing some of the theoretical and conceptual aspects, some empirical cases of alliances in the field of German trade fair organizers are given. This article provides an overview of existing alliances and cooperation agreements between German fair organizers on an international and national basis. Motives to form alliances on an international basis include cost and risk sharing as well as learning and entering a foreign market. These motives are consistent with the form of alliance the trade fair organizers choose in many instances, the joint venture.