Frankfurt is the core city of the Rhine-Main region with its 5.5 million inhabitants. People from180 countries live together here peacefully and in safety, due in no small degree to the fact that the city offers a very high standard of living. The internationally renowned Mercer Study on the Quality of Life has for years ranked Frankfurt among the Top 10.

As a media location, Frankfurt covers the entire value chain of the media industry: City of Advertising, Books City, popular film location, centre for pre- and postproduction, birthplace of techno, home of the games industry.

The Rhine-Main region also acts as a magnet for many media companies and publishing houses, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurter Neue Presse, Verlagsgruppe Rhein-Main, Darmstädter Echo, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Hessischer Rundfunk, Hitradio FFH, numerous business TV stations, Wall Street Journal, dpa, AP, Bloomberg as well as about 160 book publishing companies.

More than 5,700 companies working in the advertising industry are based in Frankfurt, including all the leading advertising and PR agencies.

The invention of book printing by Johannes Gutenberg nearly 600 years ago set in motion a first worldwide media revolution, emanating from what is today the greater Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region.

More than 25 universities make the region one of the leading knowledge centres in Europe - these include the high-profile chairs of media sciences and journalism in Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt.

Incidentally, Frankfurt is the world's largest data exchange intersection - the digital equivalent of the Frankfurter Kreuz motorway intersection!

Messe Frankfurt, venue of World Publishing Expo 2012 (IFRA Expo & Conference), is the largest German exhibition company - already since the Middle Ages, Frankfurt's ideal geographical location has been one of the most important commerce and fair centres.

Wolfgang Marzin, Chairman of the Board of Messe Frankfurt: "We are very proud to host the World Publishing Expo 2012 in October as the leading international exhibition for the news publishing industry.

This jewel of the exhibition industry ideally matches the information and business metropolis Frankfurt. It covers the entire value chain of the media industry in the media hub Frankfurt with its economic structure. In addition, the central geographical location, perfect infrastructure as well as a wide range of hotels belonging to all categories situated in the immediate vicinity of the exhibition grounds offer ideal conditions for all participants in this international event." Wolfgang Marzin, Messe Frankfurt

Sources: Stadt Frankfurt, Wirtschaftsförderung, Planungsverband Ballungsraum Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, IHK Frankfurt