Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 106)

Buyers from 168 countries made Ambiente 2018 the most international ever. After five action-packed days, the world’s leading trade fair of the consumer goods industry finished in an upbeat mood. Trade visitors frommore countries than ever before spent their time networking and ordering the latest products from all over the world for their companies. They also obtained worthwhile stimuli for a digital future. Occupying an exhibition space of 308,000 square metres (gross), 4,441 exhibitors from 89 countries revealed the trends of this coming business year. Some 81 per cent of all exhibitors came from outside Germany, making Ambiente the most international consumer goods trade fair of all times. The proportion of senior international decision- makers across all trade sectors had gone up by six per cent compared with last year, making up 60 per cent of visitors. It was the highest share ever recorded. This led to good export transactions and an excellent mood in the halls. In total, 134,600 buyers from 168 countries visited Frankfurt am Main to attend Ambiente. As expected, there were fewer German visitors in Frankfurt. This was partly due to changes in the German retail landscape, and partly because the event coincided with Carnival as well as school holidays in Germany’s southern states, while being dependent on the international trade fair calendar. Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, said, “Consumerism is fashionable! Ambiente hosts the entire world. Every February, the international consumer goods industry receives direction here for the entire year. This is impressively borne out by the number of orders and the quality of German and international buyers.” A similarly positive conclusion is reached by Thomas Grothkopp, Managing Director of the German Trade Association for Residential Accommodation and Offices (HWB). He said, “Ambiente has shown us once again that nothing can replace personal contact with new and existing suppliers and their innovative products. This trade fair in Frankfurt has totally met the expectations of the retail trade.” The top 10 visitor nations after Germany were Italy, China, France, the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Korea and Switzerland. Satisfaction ratings among visitors remained stable at an extremely high level of 96 per cent. Above-average growth in visitors’ numbers was recorded from China, Korea, Russia, the North African countries, South Africa, all of South America, Turkey, Lebanon and Cyprus. Exhibitors’ voices Despite a slight dip in Ambiente’s visitor numbers, the quality and number of visitors were just right – on this point all exhibitors at Ambiente were unanimous. Dining Birgit Dubberke, Marketing Director at BHS Tabletop, says, “We keep being impressed by the internationalism of Ambiente – not just in terms of exhibitors, but also visitors. It’s the a triumph in Frankfurt Ambiente 2018, the most international ever 70 giftfocus