Case study · Exhibitions
Exhibition wayfinding for HACE Expo, two years running
Africa’s largest hospitality expo, three halls at EIEC Cairo. In 2025, 30,000+ visitors found 305 brands from one QR code with nothing to install. In 2026 HACE brought the map back, rebuilt, for 250+ exhibitors.
- Venue
- Egypt International Exhibition Center (EIEC)
- Location
- New Cairo, Egypt
- Editions
- HACE 2025 (7 to 9 Oct) and HACE 2026 (19 to 21 Oct)
- Built
- 3D map, exhibitor search, live agenda, column QR start points, EN & AR
The venue: Egypt International Exhibition Center
EIEC in New Cairo hosts HACE Hotel Expo, Africa's largest annual hospitality trade fair, across three exhibition halls. The 2025 edition ran 7 to 9 October and the 2026 edition 19 to 21 October.
Each hall is a dense grid of numbered stands, and Hall 1 is far enough from Hall 3 that a wrong guess costs a visitor real time.
The problem with expo floor plans
Printed plans, paper directories and staff pointing all stay at the entrance, while the visitor who needs directions has already walked away.
An event app asks people to install it for one afternoon, and a PDF is a picture of a map. Neither can be corrected when a stand moves on the morning of day one.
HACE 2026 · 19 to 21 October
HACE 2026: back, and rebuilt
After 2025, HACE asked for the map again. The brief for 2026 was simple: start every visitor from where they stand, put the event programme on the map, and keep it fast when three halls share one network.
01
A new visitor map, rebuilt in a week
The 2025 map moved to the latest map engine with a new interface: calmer markers, brand logos in every list, a cleaner booth sheet, and full Arabic with a right-to-left layout.
02
“You are here” printed on the columns
Eight column signs inside the halls each carried their own code. Scanning one opened the map with that exact spot already set as the start, so the route began from where the visitor stood.
03
Search the way people actually type
Brand, category, or booth number in any form: “B39”, “booth 39”, “H1-39”, or “جناح 39” in Arabic digits. Typos and duplicate names were folded into one result.
04
The whole programme, live on the map
Egyptian Chefs Association competitions, Barista Clash and HACE Food Hub sessions ran on Cairo time, opened on today, and took the visitor to the right stage with one tap.
05
Moments: visitors share the show
Visitors posted photos from a booth straight from the map. HACE staff approved each one before it went public, and approved photos appeared on that booth for everyone.
06
Fully loaded in 1.5 seconds
On slow venue Wi-Fi and cellular networks the 2026 map was fully loaded in 1.5 seconds, down from 8 seconds the year before. It opens from a saved copy first, then refreshes itself in the background.
The 2026 map, screen by screen
What a visitor saw on their phone at HACE 2026, in English and Arabic.
From the floor
Photos visitors shared through Moments on the map during HACE 2026, approved by HACE.
The campaign around the map
A map only works if people open it. For HACE 2026 we designed the launch too: social posts and stories for the week, posters and column signs for the halls, and web banners, all in English and Arabic.
Social posts
Stories and on-site print
Web banners
HACE 2025: the first edition
01
Interactive 3D multi-hall floor plan
Every hall in 3D, not a flat image: stands, aisles, entrances and the plaza between halls, loaded in under 2 seconds in the phone browser.
02
Turn-by-turn cross-hall routing
Routes from where the visitor stands to any booth or stage, across all three halls, with written turn-by-turn steps.
03
Live event agenda & speaker schedule
Competitions, workshops and panels in the map sidebar. One tap walks the visitor to the stage.
04
Searchable exhibitor directory & brand storefronts
All 305 brands, searchable by name or sector, each with its own profile.
05
Bilingual English & Arabic with instant switch
Native right-to-left Arabic and English on the same QR link, for local visitors and international buyers alike.
06
Live updates, zero downtime
Stand moves, sponsor promotions and schedule changes went live during peak traffic, with no app update.
HACE 2025, running
Recorded on the floor at HACE 2025, October 2025.
Inside the 2025 map
Screens from the HACE 2025 map as visitors used it.
Results
HACE 2025
- 30,000+
- Active users
- 3
- Halls mapped
- 305
- Exhibiting brands
- None recorded
- Downtime
HACE 2026
- 1.5 s
- Fully loaded on slow Wi-Fi and cellular, down from 8 s in 2025
- 250+
- Exhibitors on the map
- 8
- Column signs with their own start point
- 35
- Visitor photos approved across 29 booths
“It's even better than the ones in Dubai expos”
Questions about expo wayfinding in Egypt
What changed between HACE 2025 and HACE 2026?
The 2026 map was rebuilt with a new interface and full Arabic, column signs that set the route start where the visitor stands, booth number search, the full event programme live on the map, visitor photos approved by HACE, and a map that is fully loaded in 1.5 seconds on slow Wi-Fi and cellular networks, down from 8 seconds in 2025.
How do the column QR codes work?
Each column sign carries its own code. Scanning it opens the map with that column already set as You are here, so the visitor only has to choose where to go.
Where is the Egypt International Exhibition Center?
The Egypt International Exhibition Center, usually shortened to EIEC, is in New Cairo, Egypt. It is the venue HACE is held in, and the venue this map covers.
Do visitors have to install an app?
No. The map opens in the phone browser from a scanned code or a shared link, with nothing to download or sign into.
Does the map work in Arabic?
Yes. The HACE map carries English and Arabic, switched on the map itself, so one link serves both audiences.
Can visitors find an exhibitor by name?
Yes. Every exhibiting brand is listed with its category, hall and stand number, and can be searched by name or browsed by category.
Can this be changed once the show has opened?
Yes. Stands, brands and places are edited in the dashboard, and a change made during the show reaches every phone at once.
Does this only work for exhibitions?
No. The same platform maps malls, airports, hospitals, campuses and mixed-use developments.
Map your next expo
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See how this fits into indoor navigation software for Egyptian venues.