Eventi

A dynamic start to the furniture year at imm Cologne

published on: 22 gennaio 2018
A dynamic start to the furniture year at imm Cologne
imm cologne ended on Sunday, 21 January 2018, with very positive results. In total, around 125,000 visitors (including estimates for the last day of the interiors show) attended the event to find out about industry trends and new launches. With this figure, imm cologne achieved a slight increase in visitors compared to the similar event in 2016 despite Storm Friederike on Thursday and the resulting transport difficulties. The event attracted greater numbers of trade visitors from Europe and Asia, which are the n. 1 export markets for the German and European furniture industries. “imm cologne is an excellent and highly effective platform for international business,” said Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. “Each year, the trade fair provides the industry with vital momentum for sales in decisive export markets around the world,” he added.

imm cologne’s international reach is not only increasing among exhibitors. The interiors show also attracted growing numbers of international visitors. The proportion of foreign visitors rose to around 50 per cent (2016: 46 per cent) on the trade visitor days. Within Europe, increases in visitor numbers were recorded in particular from Spain (+31 per cent), Belgium (+16 per cent), France (+11 per cent), the Netherlands (+1 per cent) and Eastern Europe (+54 per cent), with particularly impressive growth in Russian visitors (+69 per cent). Significant increases were seen in visitors from Asia (+50 per cent), with especially strong growth from China (+82 per cent) and Japan (+63 per cent), as well as the Middle East (+15 per cent), Australia/Oceania (+51 per cent), North America (+12 per cent) and Central America (+21 per cent).

In addition to the event’s strong international profile on all days of the trade fair, exhibitors also rated the quality of the visitors as excellent. Specialist retailers and high-profile international visitors from the furnishings trade and interior design business were recorded as visitors, with many of them coming from the global top 30 chains. They were joined at imm cologne by decision-makers from the major online platforms and international department stores. A delegation of 80 design-oriented interiors stores from the USA and Canada, including Luminaire from Miami and DDC from New York, visited imm cologne to view the Pure segment. “There is no better proof that our extensive VIP programme is successful and that imm cologne is also an excellent business platform in the years when it does not have a co-located kitchens event,” said Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse.

Photogallery

Newsletter