Trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt releases summary of this year’s event in Frankfurt, which included aftermarket trade show Remanexpo@Paperworld 2013.
With 1,780 exhibitors from 64 different countries and 45,360 visitors attending Paperworld, Messe Frankfurt says that the trade fair presented new market opportunities and generated impulses in economically difficult times, ensuring a “confident start to the new business season”.
According to the company there was an increase in the number of international buyers present, the majority being from Eastern Europe, with 28,341 visitors travelling from outside Germany and the top five nations present being from Germany, Italy, France, the UK and The Netherlands. “This shows that trade fairs are still the most important platforms for international contacts and new impulses,” said Detlef Braun, a Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. It was also discovered that visitors stayed at the show longer than in previous years, an average of 2.2 days.
Messe Frankfurt also states that exhibitors were satisfied with their new locations in Paperworld, with many reporting that they received more visitors than at past events. In addition, the show’s wide range of presentations and programmes were described by Messe Frankfurt as offering “unparalleled added value” for those in attendance, with important trends being highlighted and discussions generating impulses and ideas. Commenting on behalf of the retail sector, Thomas Grothkopp, Managing Director of the German Home and Office Association, said: “Against a weakening economic background, the Paperworld, Creativeworld and Christmasworld trade fairs generated vital impulses for the retail trade in Germany and Europe. Messe Frankfurt did an excellent job with its programme of events and organisation of the fair.”
Remanexpo@Paperworld 2013 was a success for many aftermarket companies exhibiting at the show, with the event being dubbed the “Year of the Appointment” due to the high number of meetings and networking opportunities presented to those in attendance. It also acted as a good platform to discuss industry issues, particularly that of clones, with ETIRA successfully drawing up a new Code of Conduct for its members to take action against clones and InfoTrends’ Andy Carroll writing that the event showed that action against clones is certainly being taken but “it is clear that the clone issue is not going away any time soon, and it continues to divide opinion in the industry”.
Messe Frankfurt also reported earlier this year that it achieved its highest ever sales during 2012, with a new record of €538 million ($705 million), becoming the first German trade show organiser to ever reach €500 million in sales and improving on 2011 sales by 15 percent.