The new Managing Director Dehn (43) looks back on more than two decades of trade show experience. Before becoming General Manager of Messe Frankfurt India in September 2018, where he was responsible for over 18 trade fairs, he worked for Messe Frankfurt Middle East for 16 years, serving as Group Exhibitions Director since 2012 and in charge of the entire exhibition portfolio, including Automechanika Dubai, Beautyworld Middle East and Intersec. During this time, he also expanded the business in Saudi Arabia by adding four new trade fairs. Prior to that, he worked as Exhibition Manager, launching Automechanika Dubai, which became one of the largest and most successful trade fairs in the region under his leadership.
Dehn began his training in 1998 as a dual student at Messe Frankfurt and completed it in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in business management at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Ravensburg.
The portfolio of Messe Frankfurt South Africa, founded in 2014, currently includes eleven trade fairs, including Automechanika and the Festival of Motoring in Johannesburg, Allfashion Sourcing Cape Town and Solar Power Africa in Cape Town, as well as AERO South Africa in Pretoria and Emerald Speed Fest in Vanderbijlpark.