INTERMAT 2027: Guillaume Schaeffer on Strategy, Industry Expectations and Global Positioning

With his recent appointment as Exhibition Director of INTERMAT Paris, Guillaume Schaeffer assumes responsibility for guiding one of Europe’s leading construction trade fairs at a time of structural change across the sector. As sustainability targets, technological innovation and shifting market dynamics influence investment decisions, INTERMAT 2027 is expected to serve as a central meeting point for manufacturers, contractors and decision makers. LECTURA Press spoke with Guillaume Schaeffer about his mandate within Comexposium, his priorities in preparing the 2027 edition, and how he intends to reinforce INTERMAT’s relevance for both European and international industry leaders.

Advertisement

Patrik Eder: Last year, you took over as Exhibition Director for INTERMAT and other major shows at Comexposium, with a mandate to “unite, mobilise and provide a collective response to an entire industry.” How do you plan to shape the identity of INTERMAT Paris 2027 to reflect both the current state and future direction of the construction sector?

Guillaume Schaeffer: I joined the trade fair’s management team over a year ago. From INTERMAT 2024 onwards, our aim is to strengthen the event’s position as an international trade fair.

And that is precisely why we attended the Conexpo and bauma international trade fairs, as we want to support the construction sector, particularly at European level. In this context, we are already working with many partners, such as the five largest French federations, as well as other European federations. The aim is to support the entire sector through the trade fair by attracting more exhibitors and more visitors to next year’s event. And that is why we are already working hard to make the trade fair even bigger.

Our aim is to reach a total of around 1,200 exhibitors. In 2024, 68% of them were international exhibitors. As for visitors, 25% came from abroad, representing more than 130 countries worldwide. INTERMAT is therefore a major event, and most visitors naturally come from Europe.

We also have a strong position in North African and French-speaking countries. However, we want to strengthen our cooperation with African visitors beyond French-speaking countries, as well as with visitors from the Middle East, since there is great potential and many business opportunities in Africa. We will therefore be organising special activities, for example as part of the African Summit, to attract more visitors from this region and ensure that they are truly satisfied.

PE: INTERMAT 2027 is being positioned as a showcase for sustainable construction solutions and technology. What are the top three strategic priorities you’re focusing on as you build the programme, exhibitor offerings, and visitor experience for the next edition of INTERMAT?

GS: That's right, sustainability is the key theme for 2027. And it’s not just a word, it’s an opportunity to demonstrate what the construction industry will be focusing on and how we intend to support it. Sustainability, of course, means innovation where decarbonisation is involved. It also covers all issues related to safety. And within the context of sustainability, we’re also speaking about social sustainability. That means safety, but also the challenge of attracting talent to this sector.

Naturally, we discuss this with our exhibitors and we also support it through the innovation awards that we organise, which exhibitors can enter.  I’d like to take this opportunity to mention that they’ll also be able to discuss innovation at the ‘Press Days’, which we’ll be hosting in January at Roland Garros. That’s just three months before the trade fair, and exhibitors will have the chance to meet 150 journalists during the event.

This is a great opportunity for discussions ahead of the trade fair, but there will also be a lot going on during the event itself; we’ll be presenting innovation awards, just as we did before the COVID pandemic. We’ll have a demonstration area set up in real-world conditions, returning with 10,000 m² of space for exhibitors to showcase all their solutions. Electromobility, for example, will take centre stage, but that's not all. We’re supporting younger companies through the ‘start-up village’, where you’ll find all the construction-focused start-ups offering a range of new solutions for the sector.

PE: Let’s elaborate a little bit more on the topic of bringing the young generation into the industry. Do you see this as a problem for the future, that young people will not be as interested in working in the construction industry because they prefer, for example, the financial sector?

GS: In my opinion, one of the challenges of this show is to promote the construction industry amongst young people. And it’s not just young talent; companies are always on the search for good employees. That’s why we’re trying to attract them through the show. One example is the ‘INTERMAT Academy’, which forms part of the trade fair and where we promote the construction industry to the students who attend.

That is also why we’re collaborating with the International Federation and local associations to bring young people to the trade fair, so they can see what the world of construction is like, develop an interest in it, and realise that it’s an interesting sector with great potential for high-quality jobs.

Patrik Eder: With rapid innovation in areas like digitalisation, sustainable machinery, and construction tech, how does INTERMAT plan to spotlight such solutions at the 2027 show? Will there be new innovation zones, award programmes, or curated content designed to accelerate development?

GS: In this sector, you are sure to find organisations specialising in new technologies and new energy sources.

This industry is developing rapidly, with more and more organisations getting involved, and you will find them amongst many of our exhibitors, who are increasingly focusing on digitalisation, and we will be discussing this as part of our conference programme.

This will also be highlighted in the innovation awards, where special prizes will be announced. I’d say specifically for these areas. And whilst we’re on the subject of digitalisation, we’re also talking about the challenge of cyber security. It’s quite a broad topic. And I’d say that discussing these issues is also part of sustainability.

We’d also like to have software providers whom you could find in the Startup Village or perhaps in the new technologies section and the new energy sector.

Patrik Eder: Looking beyond attendance numbers, what metrics or indicators will you use to evaluate the success of INTERMAT 2027?

GS: That is certainly what we focus on – the satisfaction of our exhibitors and visitors.

Our aim is to successfully bring these two groups together. We want exhibitors to be satisfied because they are closing deals, meeting the visitors they were looking for, or even those they weren’t specifically seeking but who stopped by their stand. And so that they can find, for example, new customers or clients who might discover their innovations.

And visitors must also be satisfied, telling us that they have found all the solutions they were seeking for their projects, and that they have concluded deals either directly at the trade fair or perhaps afterwards. And also that they’ve learnt a great lot about the challenges facing the sector.

All of this forms part of what we offer through the conference and other events. It’s mainly about giving attendees the chance to meet key players and learn more about the challenges of the industry.