Tour
One Hundred Years of UFI – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry
An Agreement Signed in Milan
1925 was a year of great significance in the history of Fiera Milano. In that edition, for the first time, the Milan Trade Fair surpassed the not only symbolic threshold of one million visitors, and the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III, returned to inaugurate it. Among the many innovations in the district was the Furniture Pavilion, the forerunner of our modern Salone del Mobile.
1925 was a year of great significance in the history of Fiera Milano. In that edition, for the first time, the Milan Trade Fair surpassed the not only symbolic threshold of one million visitors, and the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III, returned to inaugurate it. Among the many innovations in the district was the Furniture Pavilion, the forerunner of our modern Salone del Mobile.
UFI is born
1925 is also the year in which, precisely in Milan, on April 15th during the Milan Trade Fair, UFI was founded by the main European international fairs. It was immediately decided that fair organizing companies, not individual events, could benefit from UFI membership status.
Twenty fairs joined and believed in the project of an association: Bordeaux, Brussels, Budapest, Cologne, Danzig, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Lviv, Lyon, Milan, Nizhny Novgorod, Padua, Paris, Prague, Reichenberg, Utrecht, Valencia, Vienna, and Zagreb. UFI was founded as an apolitical international association in accordance with the French law of July 1, 1901, on associations. Initially, UFI was created under the name “Union des Foires Internationales” (UFI), or “Union of International 1 Fairs” in English, or “Verband internationaler Messen” in German. The change of name to “UFI,” accompanied by the slogan “The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry,” was decided by the General Assembly held in Cairo, Egypt, on October 20, 2003. A name abbreviated to “UFI.”
1925 is also the year in which, precisely in Milan, on April 15th during the Milan Trade Fair, UFI was founded by the main European international fairs. It was immediately decided that fair organizing companies, not individual events, could benefit from UFI membership status.
Twenty fairs joined and believed in the project of an association: Bordeaux, Brussels, Budapest, Cologne, Danzig, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Lviv, Lyon, Milan, Nizhny Novgorod, Padua, Paris, Prague, Reichenberg, Utrecht, Valencia, Vienna, and Zagreb. UFI was founded as an apolitical international association in accordance with the French law of July 1, 1901, on associations. Initially, UFI was created under the name “Union des Foires Internationales” (UFI), or “Union of International 1 Fairs” in English, or “Verband internationaler Messen” in German. The change of name to “UFI,” accompanied by the slogan “The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry,” was decided by the General Assembly held in Cairo, Egypt, on October 20, 2003. A name abbreviated to “UFI.”
UFI is the leading international association for the exhibition industry: it represents over 880 event organizers and fair districts in more than 85 countries around the world, with over 50,000 direct employees. From its headquarters in Paris and regional offices in Hong Kong and Sharjah, UFI pursues the objective with which it was founded: to represent, promote, and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry worldwide.
UFI is the leading international association for the exhibition industry: it represents over 880 event organizers and fair districts in more than 85 countries around the world, with over 50,000 direct employees. From its headquarters in Paris and regional offices in Hong Kong and Sharjah, UFI pursues the objective with which it was founded: to represent, promote, and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry worldwide.