Successful Domotex Hannover 2016 provides fresh momentum for floor coverings industry

DOMOTEX 2016 drew to a close with outstanding results, earning its place among the best-ever stagings of the world's flagship fair for carpets and floor coverings. With 1,441 exhibitors from 59 countries and 45,000 trade visitors from more than 100 nations, DOMOTEX delivered fresh momentum for the international floor coverings industry, serving as a powerful driver of sales, trends and innovations.

“Whatever aspect you choose to look at - exhibitor lineup, visitor turnout, international coverage, the ratio of decision-makers present - exhibitors and visitors all attest to the event's top performance, underscoring its ever greater appeal for the sector,” remarked Dr. Jochen Köckler, the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member in charge of DOMOTEX, on the last day of the show. “DOMOTEX has demonstratively enhanced its reputation as an unrivalled source of momentum for the global floor coverings industry.”

Visitors from around the world found all the latest trends and innovations on display in 12 different exhibition halls, setting the stage for lively deal-making, order-placing and fruitful dialogue with business associates. Out of a total of some 27,500 visitors from abroad, around 50 percent came from EU countries, with another 25 percent coming from Asia and eight percent from the Americas. There was a notable increase in attendance from Asia, which went up by 29 percent. “DOMOTEX is the definitive meeting-place for the global floor coverings industry,” said Köckler, adding: “No other event in the world attracts so many high-caliber decision-makers.”

Highly international event stimulates new business

The international scope and reach of DOMOTEX is key to its reputation as a powerful driver of new business. “DOMOTEX is the central hub for the floor coverings industry - on a global scale. All the important players from every continent are represented here at DOMOTEX. That translates into outstanding business prospects at the fair,” commented Guido Schulte, Managing Director of MeisterWerke Schulte GmbH, based in Rüthen-Meiste, Germany.

Paul De Cock, President of the UNILIN Flooring Division in Wielsbeke, Belgium, also praised the event: “DOMOTEX is a key platform for our international business. Our stand attracted a steady stream of visitors, resulting in lively business and lots of purchase orders. We are delighted with the outcome of the fair and feel upbeat about the business year ahead.”

Dr. Ali Ipektchi of IPEK - A. Ipektchi GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg was also delighted with the event: “As exhibitors of Persian carpets and rugs, we see DOMOTEX as the most important international business event. This has been a very successful fair for us. We took lots of orders and engaged in many promising talks with business partners and potential customers. At this year's show, Persian carpets and area rugs enjoyed even greater prominence than last year. The lifting of the trade embargo on Iranian goods is very good news indeed, as relaxed and positive business relations can only have a beneficial effect on our industry.”

High caliber of visitors

Exhibitors were delighted with the high level of competence and decision-making authority among the show's attendees, with more than 72 percent of them being top managers who play a role in their companies’ purchasing decisions. The majority of visitors at this year's DOMOTEX were retail and wholesale buyers (13,500 and 11,400, respectively). The fair also attracted architects, interior designers and contractors (3,700), as well as 9,400 skilled tradespeople.

Pacesetter for innovations

DOMOTEX impressively confirmed the floor covering industry's dynamic power and innovative spirit. “In each and every segment - carpets, parquet and laminate flooring, designer floors, machine-woven carpets and hand-made rugs - the international floor coverings industry sported a stunning and highly innovative array of patterns, materials, shapes and colors, thus ideally positioning itself for the coming season,” observed Köckler.

Under the slogan “Tread on Me”, DOMOTEX invited visitors to “walk all over” the latest trends, including a wide range of natural-look rugs and carpets. This back-to-nature trend was evident both in the prominence of beige, brown, green and pastel hues and in the frequent use of landscape images. Many designers are actually designing products in anticipation of footprints being left on them, making them reminiscent of grass or soft earth when freshly walked upon. This natural look is also in demand for wood flooring. Shapes and textures can be mixed and matched to create a wide range of looks. The event also showcased innovative systems for quick and easy floor laying. Another hot trend is carpeting in the form of tiles and planks, with one highlight being designer floor coverings that almost perfectly replicate wood grains or tiles, while at the same time being comparatively easy to lay. The demand for sustainably manufactured products is also on the rise.

The Innovations@DOMOTEX showcase put a big spotlight on highly innovative floor coverings. The three Innovations@DOMOTEX areas proved highly popular among the show's visitors, drawing special attention to 84 selected innovations in the categories textile and resilient floor coverings, parquet and laminate flooring and contemporary hand-made rugs. This made it easy for trade visitors to get a concise look at the sector's hottest innovations, thus providing valuable orientation for the year ahead.

Other standout attractions included the Innovations@DOMOTEX Dialogues spotlighting key industry topics by means of presentations and panel discussions by and with top international designers like Piero Lissoni. The focus was on current design trends and advances for hotels, catering, offices, healthcare, shopping/retail and home interiors. User-centric Guided Tours provided in-depth coverage of the topics addressed, and featured innovations provided architects, interior designers and planners with a unique overview of the broad and varied range of floor coverings available today.

Another visitor magnet at DOMOTEX was the third edition of the Wood Flooring Summit. Targeted at the international parquet and laminate flooring sector, this special event was staged in Hall 9, where visitors were introduced to all the current trends, developments and new materials for parquet, laminate, cork, bamboo and outdoor floor coverings.

Meanwhile, Hall 7 was the “El Dorado” for parquet and laminate floor layers, interior decorators and painters. The “Skilled Trades Hub” featured a comprehensive exhibition and presentation program dedicated to real-world solutions for practitioners. Another strong drawing card was the European Interior Decorating Competition - an event held over two days and featuring top young interior decorators from Germany, Austria, South Tyrol and Switzerland, who impressed an appreciative audience with their skills. Recognizing the world's best designer carpets in eight different categories, The Carpet Design Awards were also staged at DOMOTEX, featuring a prize which ranks as the highest international accolade for contemporary hand-made carpets.

The next DOMOTEX is scheduled for 14 to 17 January 2017

Source: DOMOTEX

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