History
1946
The inaugural Rome Trade Fair is held at Piazzale Clodio.1948Edoardo Squadrilli, founder of the Rome Trade Fair, underwrites an escrow to value of 26 million lire for the construction of an Expo Centre, financed by the Co-operation Bank (today s Banca Nazionale del Lavoro). The second Rome Trade Fair is staged.
1951
To manage the running of the fairs, an Expo Agency is established, with input from the City Council, the Provincial Authority, the Rome Chamber of Commerce and a number of employers associations.
1952
The Rome Trade Fair moves to the EUR colonnade.
1955
The Expo Agency is granted the legal status of a charitable trust through the Presidential Decree of January 1955.
1959
The Expo Agency moves to new premises on Via Cristoforo Colombo, originally on a temporary basis.
1969
Plans are made to transform the Expo Agency from a charitable trust into a public-sector body. Work begins on the renovation of a number of exhibition halls.
1970
The Conference Centre is erected while other new buildings replace the temporary structures put up at the end of the 1950s.
1975
With Casaidea and MoaCasa, the expo district starts to play host to leading specialist trade fairs alongside the traditional general fair.
1980
Edoardo Squadrilli, founder and General Secretary of the Rome Trade Fair, dies. He is replaced by new a General Secretary, Enrico Cartoni.
1982
The Expo Agency becomes part of Lazio Regional Authority, which takes control of the agency through Law No. 60 of December 23, 1982 and promptly reinstates the old statutes drawn up thirty years previously.
1983
The 31st Trade Fair is the first to feature international exhibitors.1986Exhibitions halls are erected at the side of Piazza Ruffino, where a new entranceway is created.
1988
Ennio Lucarelli, Industrial Union’ s member, is elected President of the Expo Agency.1989With a finance package worth around 14 billion lire (7 million euros), Lazio Regional Authority implements a radical restructuring of the exhibition complex.1990Two new exhibition halls and the capital s largest conference hall (the Palafiera) are built in record time, offering a total of 15,000m2 of indoor exhibition space. The expo district plays host to a major event funded by the Ministry of Industry & Commerce, entitled The Seduction of Craftsmanship . To support the President, two new Vice Presidents are appointed: Carlo Scarchilli, President of the Lazio Nursery Gardeners Association and Emidio Tedesco, a lawyer and director of the Legislative Office of INAIL (the Italian National Institute for Social Security).1992Con Floma '92, una nuova, grande manifestazione-spettacolo dedicataai fiori, alle piante ed all intero mondo del florovivaismo, preludio delle edizioni professionali (Floma Business), che prenderanno il via dal '93, la Fiera di Roma si propone per la prima volta come organizzatore diretto di manifestazioni diverse dalla Campionaria.1993Ennio Lucarelli passes the baton to Roberto Bosi, new President of Fiera Di Roma.1994The Palafiera is expanded to include additional conference halls and, in this way, Rome find itself at last equipped with a versatile, prestigious conference centre complex. In December, a memorandum of understanding is signed with Lazio Regional Authority, Rome City Council and the Rome Chamber of Commerce for the creation of a Business Centre in the expo district and for the transformation of the Agency into the more agile form of a joint-stock company (S.p.A. in Italian).1995Regional Law No. 56 of December 1, 1995 decrees that Fiera di Roma be wound down as an autonomous body and transformed into a joint-stock company. Fiera di Roma is the first Italian expo agency to become a joint-stock company. Bosi, Scarchilli and Tedesco are appointed Extraordinary Commissioner and Sub-commissioners, respectively.1998On April 24, Fiera di Roma S.p.A. is established. The founding shareholders are the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Rome City Council and Lazio Regional Authority. In June of the same year, the appointment of the Executive Board is completed, with Roberto Bosi named as President, Claudio Donati as Vice President and Luigi Cappugi as CEO.1999On December 21, the new brand is unveiled as Fiera di Roma S.p.A. is officially launched. The company is fully operational as of January 1, 2000.2001Following the appointment of the representatives of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Rome City Council and Lazio Regional Authority, the Executive Board is reshuffled. Roberto Bosi is confirmed as President, while Maria Raffaella Alibrandi is named as CEO. The new directors take on the commitment of managing the implementation of one of the capital’s most important economic development projects: the new expo hub, on the Rome-Fiumicino road. Vincenzo Alfonsi, former General Manager of Confesercenti di Roma and council member of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, is appointed Managing Director of Fiera di Roma S.p.A.2003Fiera Roma s.r.l. is an offshoot of Fiera di Roma S.p.A. The new company is responsible for the management of Rome s trade fairs and conferences. Roberto Bosi is appointed President. The mission is to deliver operational management of the conference venues and to promote the staging of events in the exhibition complex on Via Cristoforo Colombo and at the upcoming new expo hub. The Executive Board of Fiera di Roma S.p.A., the holding company of Fiera di Roma s.r.l., unanimously appoints Andrea Mondello, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, to the role of President.2004On April 21, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome, and in the presence of the Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, and the President of Lazio Regional Authority, Francesco Storace, construction work begins on the new Fiera di Roma expo complex.2005In September, Marco Sogaro, former CEO of the Milan expo organisation, Fiera di Milano, is appointed CEO of expo management company Fiera Roma s.r.l.2006On April 21 there is the inauguration of the new Fiera di Roma and on September 22, with the first event Orocapital, begins the activity in the new expo hub.