RETAILOBSERVER.COM MARCH 2017
52
T
he trade fair duo of imm cologne and LivingKitchen have
achieved a record number of visitors this year. "We met our
target and have broken the 150,000-visitor mark," said
Gerald Böse, president and chief executive officer of Koelnmesse
GmbH, who is delighted with the results. Roughly every second
trade visitor came from outside Germany, with foreign trade visitors
accounting for nearly 50 percent. "That shows we are right on track
with our drive to internationalize the events," Böse continued. Dirk-
Uwe Klaas, managing director of the Federal Association of the
German Furniture Industry, was similarly pleased with the figures.
"The Cologne furniture show was a wonderful summit for interior
decor. The German furniture industry is completely satisfied with
imm cologne. It was the ideal start to 2017, which will no doubt be
an excellent year for the industry," said Klaas. On behalf of retailers,
the President of the German Federal Association of Furniture,
Kitchens & Furnishing Retailers (BVDM), Hans Strothoff, gave the
following verdict: "The trade fair met retailers' expectations. The
quality of the exhibitors was high; a large number of new launches
were on show, and visitors had a chance to experience attractive
product presentations. This makes a visit to the trade fair well worth
its while. And it's why retailers also see the trade fair as a fantastic
way to launch the 2017 furniture year."
Of the 104,000 trade visitors, approximately 56,000 came from
Germany and around 48,000 came from abroad (an increase of 4
percent). Within Europe, increases in visitor figures were recorded
from Spain (up 25 percent), Russia (up 26 percent), Italy (up 19
percent) and the UK (up 13 percent). Visitor numbers from the
Netherlands and Poland also increased. Numbers of overseas
trade visitors rose, visitors from China (up 5 percent), South Korea
(up 12 percent) and India (up 5 percent). A rise was also recorded
in visitor numbers from the Middle East (up 19 percent), with
particularly strong growth from the United Arab Emirates. With
these excellent numbers of foreign visitors, the two trade fairs will
boost exhibitors' exports.
Koelnmesse chief Operating Officer, Katharina C. Hamma,
emphasized the quality of the trade visitors: "No other event brings
supply and demand together as effectively in this quality as imm
cologne and LivingKitchen." Initial evaluations of the results showed
imm Cologne and LivingKitchen
