
K2013
Image copyright Messe Düsseldorf/Tillmann
With the official opening of K 2013 now seven months away, exhibitors and visitors may have noticed a few changes to the official event site, www.k-online.de. With a new design, the website is a useful platform for easy, effective preparation and planning of K visits. During the last K in 2010, the portal recorded more than eleven million clicks. With a clearer structure, the new K portal plays host to an assortment of topical information, news from the industry, research and science as well as practical advice for visitors.
Recently the exhibitors’ database – the virtual catalogue of the K trade fair — went live online. Since then, the number of visits have jumped to about 110,000 in January and February according to Messe Duesseldorf. In the “Companies and Products” area of the portal, visitors can now search for individual companies or compile a list of companies offering specific services. This compilation can then be downloaded. Numerous personalised services such as MyOrganizer, MyCalendar for arranging dates online and MyCatalogue for compiling a personalised exhibition catalogue enhance the platform’s service package. The new K App also provides mobile access to all important information – for both Android and Apple systems.
Another addition is a new ‘matchmaking’ function. This networking service pairs up like-minded exhibitors and visitors: both partners can post and access enquiries and offers – their search for a new partner, for example – online. This service provides networking opportunities in the run-up to the exhibition and helps the partners to arrange meetings at K.
Visitors will also be able to buy eTickets for K 2013 online and print them out at home, which saves time and money. The eTicket is significantly less expensive than tickets purchased at the official ticket office on the exhibition grounds: the online day ticket costs €49, while the ticket office price is €65. Online three-day-tickets cost only €108, while tickets purchased from the ticket office cost €135. The K ticket includes the use of buses and trains of the public transport system in Düsseldorf and the surrounding region. The online ticket shop will be accessible at www.k-online.de, starting from the end of March 2013.
In cooperation with Deutsche Bahn and Düsseldorf Marketing & Tourismus (DMT), visitors to the K trade fair can now travel from all German cities to Düsseldorf and back at a special price: with this special ticket, a train trip from Hamburg to Düsseldorf and back for example costs just €109 (travellers save more than EUR 30). Anybody still looking for accommodation in Düsseldorf or nearby may find it at the DMT website http://business.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/messe/K/, which provides a list of several hotels of different categories and private accommodation.