Hannover Messe, one of the world’s leading industrial technology trade fairs, took place from March 31 to April 4—and this year, it provided the perfect opportunity to showcase the power of T-Systems Motion Data in action.
Using the event as a live environment, we demonstrated how our solution captures and visualizes crowd movement in real time. From early preparations to peak visitor days, Motion Data made it possible to track and analyze visitor flows across the venue, highlighting the value of location-based insights in dynamic, high-traffic circumstances.
What is Motion Data?
Motion Data is an advanced geo-analytics solution that transforms anonymized mobile network signaling data into actionable, real-time insights. By analyzing the aggregated location data of mobile devices, Motion Data reveals how, when, and where people move—without collecting any personal information.
This data-driven solution empowers organizations to:
- Optimize public transport schedules and routes based on real commuter flows
- Improve retail performance through insights into customer traffic and dwell time
- Evaluate and plan large-scale events by understanding peak activity zones and flow dynamics
- Make smarter marketing decisions by identifying high-traffic areas for targeted outreach
- Support urban planning and smart city initiatives with real movement data
What’s more, Motion Data delivers insights in near real-time through easy-to-navigate dashboards, so businesses can make informed decisions quickly. Most importantly, Motion Data ensures full GDPR compliance by working exclusively with anonymized datasets.
Real-time insights from Hannover Messe 2025
To bring these capabilities to life, we showcased Motion Data through public dashboards during Hannover Messe. These dashboards provided near real-time visibility into visitor activity—tracking flows across halls, identifying peak hours, and highlighting trends across different days.
Here are some of the most interesting insights we observed:
Event preparation week (before March 30)
In the days leading up to the official opening, around 5,000 people were already active on-site. We can assume they included logistics teams, service providers, and early exhibitors, preparing everything for the fair.
Image 1. Visitors at Hannover Messe from March 28 to April 3, showing early buildup before official opening
March 30 (Opening evening)
The fair officially kicked off on March 30 with an opening evening that drew around 12,000 attendees—a clear jump from the previous week.
Image 2. Steady visitor growth culminating in a strong kickoff on March 30
April 1 (Peak visitor day)
April 1 marked the busiest day of the event, with over 55,000 visitors—10,000 more than on March 31. While most attendees left the venue by 17:30, nearly 4,000 visitors remained in Halls 8 and 9 well into the evening. Compared to other days, where visitor flows dropped earlier, we can assume there was an evening event on-site that extended visitor presence.
Image 3. Peak attendance patterns on April 1, with detailed breakdown per exhibition hall
Visitor origins: Where did attendees come from?
In addition to real-time movement tracking, Motion Data revealed fascinating insights into the geographic origins of Hannover Messe visitors. By analyzing anonymized network data, we were able to map out which regions and cities contributed the most to the event's footfall.
Top German regions represented:
- The clear hotspot was central Lower Saxony, particularly the Hanover region itself.
- The Hamburg metropolitan area and the Berlin capital region also contributed significantly to overall attendance.
- Additional strong representation came from the Weserbergland and southern Lower Saxony areas.
Image 4. Heatmap of regional visitor origins across Germany
International representation: A global audience on April 1
April 1 not only marked the highest overall attendance but also stood out as the day with the broadest international representation.
Key insights include:
- April 1 and 2 attracted the most international visitors, likely due to high-profile programming and key thematic highlights during those days.
- China represented the largest share of international visitors, followed by several other countries from across Asia and Europe.
- The top 10 visitor origins on these days highlight Hannover Messe’s global draw, offering valuable input for international partnership and engagement strategies.
Image 5. International visitor origins by country
Image 6. Global distribution of visitors
Why data insights are key for companies
Understanding how people move in real time offers enormous value to businesses and organizations. From operational efficiency and staffing to marketing, layout design, and event planning—Motion Data helps turn crowd dynamics into actionable strategy.
These insights also help organizers and local stakeholders better understand which regions are most engaged, informing future outreach and infrastructure investments. For global brands and event planners, Motion Data offers a new level of visibility into audience behavior—supporting smarter decision-making and scalable growth.
Start making data-driven decisions with Motion Data
Motion Data is already helping businesses across sectors transform complex mobility data into strategic advantage. Discover today how your organization can benefit from mass movement insights!
