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| Heimtextil 2012 reports an excellent set of results  Heimtextil 2012 closed its doors last Saturday after achieving an excellent set of results. With 2,634 exhibitors from 61 countries, the number of manufacturers of home and contract textiles taking part was up 2.4 percent on the year before and the atmosphere at the fair correspondingly good.Against this background of orders, product launches and new contacts, the sector nevertheless noted that many delegations from the distributive trades, the handicrafts trade, design and industry were no longer as big as in the past. This reduced the number of visitors by a good five percent to around 70,000 (2011: 73,071, audited by the Society for the Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM)). In contrast to this, there was an increase in the number of visitors from the Russian Federation, the Middle East, Turkey and the Far East. The biggest visitor countries after Germany were Italy, Turkey, China, Great Britain, the USA, France, Spain, the Russian Federation, The Netherlands and Poland. Altogether, the proportion of visitors from outside Germany amounted to 64.2 percent (2011: 65.4 percent). Despite the prevailing economic uncertainties, positive signals came from Germany. Both visitors and exhibitors are beginning the new business year with a positive outlook. The good prognoses are based on a sales increase of 4.6 percent at the end of 2011, the result of growth in domestic demand. And, say the experts, demand will remain at a high level this year. Home and household textiles, e.g., bed, bathroom and table linen, textile floor coverings, curtains, decorative fabrics and wallpaper, are particularly popular among German consumers with demand having risen steadily since the 2009 financial crisis to a level that is higher than that for entertainment electronics. Thus, in 2010, German households purchased home textiles worth an average of € 224. Now, for 2012, the IFH Retail Consultants market-research company in Cologne is forecasting an average household expenditure of € 242 for such products – i.e., € 20 or eight percent more. By comparison, household expenditures on entertainment electronics were only € 212 in 2010 with no further growth expected in 2012. Significantly more German exhibitors and visitors expressed themselves in positive terms. Thus, there was a leap in the number of good to very good ratings for visitor target groups reached (up 12 percent points to 79 percent) and visitor quality (from 69 percent to 86 percent). The estimation of the economic outlook made by exhibitors from outside Germany is not so optimistic – 27 percent of foreign exhibitors are pessimistic against only eight percent of their German colleagues. In view of this, a successful fair is all the more encouraging. Thus, a remarkable 81 percent of non-German exhibitors said they are satisfied to very satisfied in terms of achieving their goals for the fair. Wallpaper was the subject of particular attention at Heimtextil 2012. Many renowned companies presented their new collections, the Wall Gallery special show displayed the most innovative products in the right light and a marketing campaign launched at the Heimtextil is set to make the new furnishing worlds the talk of many towns. More than 400 manufacturers drew attention to the latest innovations for textile furnishings in the contract sector and architecture, as well as sustainable home textiles, via special offers and a series of expect lectures and awards ceremonies in the special 'Let's talk about…' area. And met with an extremely positive echo from architects and interior architects from the whole of Germany and neighbouring countries. Aimed at interior decorators and furnishing experts, the Heimtextil Coupon Business Finder lists companies that supply fabrics in very small to small quantities – a vital service for this important group of visitors from the handicrafts sector. With over 25 interior decorators, museums and bed dealers, the ‘Heimtextil goes City’ consumer campaign, which was held throughout Frankfurt for the 8th year running, attracted well over 2,000 customers and consumers interested in the fair and in home textiles. The next Heimtextil, International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles, will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 9 to 12 January 2013. write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Construction News :: home page |