Trade fairs and exhibitions are back — and the smartest venues now use people counting sensor technology to manage capacity in real time, avoid overcrowding, and deliver better visitor experiences. With CountMatters, event operators gain live occupancy, flow analytics, and zone heatmaps to plan staffing, reduce queues, and keep every hall comfortably within limits.
Even when restrictions ease, venues still face operational realities: varying crowd surges, uneven hall utilization, and pressure to minimize wait times and bottlenecks. Traditional manual counts can’t keep up with dynamic influx; they lag, they’re error-prone, and they miss the micro-patterns that create discomfort and lost revenue. With real-time occupancy from CountMatters, operators see exact counts by entrance and per hall, so teams can proactively redirect flow, open overflow areas, and adjust staffing on the spot.
CountMatters connects people counting sensors at entrances and across key zones to a central dashboard. The system calculates live occupancy by area and alerts teams when thresholds are reached (for example at 75% capacity) so staff can prepare for queues or switch routes. Beyond safety, the same data powers footfall analytics, dwell insights, and hot/cold zone mapping — the foundation for smarter stand placements, service points, and signage strategies. We also integrate with leading sensor partners such as Xovis where appropriate.
What starts as a compliance requirement quickly becomes a strategic asset. Historical flow patterns reveal the best time slots for high-value exhibitors, show which entrances convert visitors faster, and surface under-used corridors that could host pop-ups. Marketing teams use this evidence to optimize programming — and sales teams use the same numbers to sell premium placements with confidence.
At large venues, our customers typically install sensors at all main entrances and exits, plus select internal chokepoints. Security sees the exact number of visitors on the premises, per hall and per floor. When a hall approaches a dynamic capacity target (e.g., 75%), staff prepare queue lines, adjust signage, and route visitors to alternate exhibits. It’s a calm, data-driven way to keep the experience smooth during peak moments.
Monitor inflow minute-by-minute, balance door utilization, and dynamically allocate security and ticketing staff. Reduce bottlenecks by opening auxiliary entrances when thresholds trigger.
Ensure each hall stays within safe capacity while keeping the floor lively. If a headline stage creates a surge, redirect traffic with signage and staff prompts guided by the live map.
Dwell analytics help you right-size seating and staff. Share peak windows with vendors to improve preparation and minimize queues.
Control access and keep experiences premium by regulating inflow and notifying hosts before thresholds are crossed.
CountMatters deploys people counting sensors at entrances and critical internal nodes. The platform ingests event-level stream data and renders live occupancy, zone-level counts, and historical analytics in a single dashboard. Role-based permissions make it easy for Security, Operations, and Marketing to collaborate without stepping on each other’s toes.
GLOSSARY — PEOPLE COUNTING SENSOR: A sensor that anonymously counts entries and exits, used to compute occupancy and measure visitor flows. It does not capture personal identity; it simply measures movement and direction with privacy-by-design.CountMatters follows a strict privacy-by-design approach: no personally identifiable information is collected, and counts are aggregated for operational decision-making. Data retention is limited to the minimum needed for analytics, and access controls ensure only authorized teams can view dashboards.
Beyond safety, data reduces friction and increases spend. Shorter queues lead to positive satisfaction scores, and optimized layouts increase dwell time where it matters. Exhibitors value transparent, third-party metrics: share attendance by hall and time slot to justify premium placement pricing. Over multiple events, your team builds a reusable playbook that compounds gains each season.
A Nordic event venue used CountMatters to track live occupancy across entrances and halls during a flagship industry fair. With threshold alerts set to 75%, staff pre-positioned queue lines ahead of surges. Marketing then used historical visitor flows to re-arrange show features — reducing choke points and increasing exhibitor visibility at the next edition.
Explore more results in our case studies.