We have built four stands at Palexpo in Geneva, across four unrelated industries — including the largest stand in our record. This page covers what the venue is, what building there involves, and what Switzerland adds to the job that an EU venue does not.
Our four Palexpo stands
- INDEX — 228 m², nonwovens. The world’s leading nonwovens exhibition, and the biggest stand we have built anywhere
- EBACE — business aviation. Built for seated meetings rather than product display, because the aircraft are on the apron next door
- World of Coffee — specialty coffee
- AIDEX — humanitarian aid and development
Four stands, four industries, one venue. Nothing about a nonwovens stand resembles a business aviation stand — but the hall rules, the freight route, the customs paperwork and the contractor procedures are identical, and that is the part that is learned rather than looked up.
The venue
- 106,000 m² of exhibition space across seven interconnected halls that can be combined
- All halls are pillarless except Hall 3 — unusually free layouts for a venue of this age and size
- Removable soundproof partitions between halls
- 29 conference rooms seating around 5,000 in total
- More than 100 national and international events a year
- Directly adjacent to Geneva International Airport, with its own rail stop
The airport adjacency is not a convenience detail. It is why EBACE can run a hall exhibition and a static aircraft display at the same time, and it means international crew and client travel is unusually simple — you can be at the stand within half an hour of landing.
The thing most exhibitors underestimate: Switzerland is not in the EU customs union
This is the single biggest practical difference between building at Palexpo and building at Frankfurt, Milan or Barcelona. Stand materials, exhibits and samples crossing into Switzerland require customs formalities, normally under temporary admission, and that has consequences:
- Everything must be declared and documented before it travels — which means the build must be specified early enough that an accurate list exists
- What goes in must come out, and be accounted for. Consumables and giveaways are treated differently from the structure
- Border time is real time. A delay at the frontier is a delay to the build slot, and build slots at a busy venue do not move
- Improvising on site is expensive. Materials bought locally to fix a problem are outside the paperwork
The practical answer is the same discipline that good stand building requires anyway: prefabricate, ship complete, carry spares, and do not plan to make anything on site. Our Milan workshop is a straightforward road route to Geneva, which keeps the shipment as a single controlled movement rather than several.
Planning a Palexpo build
- Check the hall before the design. Pillarless halls allow layouts that Hall 3 will not
- Confirm rigging early. Suspended elements are ordered through the venue and close well before the show
- Space-only means no floor covering — the flooring is yours to specify and lay
- Budget the customs step into the calendar, not just the cost
- Geneva accommodation is scarce and expensive during major shows. Crew beds get booked at the same time as the build slot, not after it
Frequently asked questions
Do you build at Palexpo?
Yes — four stands to date, across nonwovens, business aviation, coffee and humanitarian aid, including a 228 m² build.
Does building in Switzerland cost more than building in the EU?
There is a customs and documentation step that an intra-EU build does not have, and Swiss on-site costs are higher. The way to control both is to prefabricate and ship once, rather than making up the difference with local purchases and extra journeys.
How large a stand can you build at Palexpo?
Our largest stand anywhere is the 228 m² build at INDEX, at this venue.
Which shows at Palexpo have you worked on?
INDEX, EBACE, World of Coffee and AIDEX. Tell us your show and stand number and we will check the hall’s technical regulations against your design before production starts.
Need a Palexpo Geneva exhibition stand builder?
Venue information and hall specifications are published by Palexpo. Tell us the show, the dates and the stand size, and we will come back with a design and a build plan that accounts for the Swiss border as well as the hall. Talk to us about your stand, or see every venue we have built in.