Mondial du Bâtiment 2017: INTERCLIMA+ELECHB, IDÉOBAIN and BATIMAT attract more visitors than the 2015 edition

The aim of Le Mondial du Bâtiment was to get all industry players together in one place and that's exactly what it did, with professionals from the key trades converging on INTERCLIMA+ELECHB, IDÉOBAIN and BATIMAT.
A total of 2,400 exhibitors, 57% international, welcomed 319,200 visitors to the three trade shows. The visitors, 20% international, were unanimous in their opinion that it was a very lively and motivating event which brought to the fore the key issues in the building industry. The many highlights within the packed programme helped exhibitors and visitors make the right connections.

French visitor numbers from outside Paris increased from the last edition, with a significant presence from core industry sectors.

“French visitors turned out in force to all three shows, accounting for 80% of total visitor numbers. This upswing was fuelled by the number of visitors to Batimat from mainland France (78% of the total), up 3% on 2015,” said Guillaume Loizeaud, Director of Le Mondial du Bâtiment. “Our aim was to improve attendance from this target market and our work paid off.”

Attracted by initiatives to facilitate access to the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, the number of visitors from outside Paris increased by 2% to 62% of French visitors attending the three trade shows. It is worth mentioning that the bus service provided to bring in visitors from within a 300km radius of the venue operated at maximum capacity, with over 2,200 tradespeople travelling in the 54 coaches provided between the Tuesday and Thursday.

There were four main categories of professionals: installers - companies and individual tradespeople - held on to the top spot, accounting for 35% of the visitors, ahead of contractors (architects, design firms, etc.) and project owners (20%). We welcomed the much-anticipated return of our distributors, with 4% more than in 2015 (18% versus 14%), and manufacturer numbers also increased from 14% to 16%.

Increasingly the place to be for international business

With a 20% share of total visitor numbers and a 6% increase in international offerings from its exhibitors (57% and 1,366 exhibitors), the three trade shows combined consolidated their ranking as the world's leading business arena.

Indeed, highlights cited by most of the industry leaders exhibiting at the three shows were high attendance and the quality of the contacts made.

Many countries with high growth potential took their own pavilions to facilitate business meetings or supported joint company initiatives:

Europe

Germany took a 158 m2 pavilion under the auspices of NRW International. Two institutional exhibitors represented the Russian market, Russian Export Timber and the Ministry for Trade and Industry. Czech Trade took 80m2 to showcase the interior design and joinery products and the services of 7 exhibitors. Romania honoured the show with its presence, taking two large pavilions measuring 120m2 and 180 m2 respectively at INTERCLIMA+ELECHB and BATIMAT.

Belgium's Walloon region was represented by AWEX (Wallonia Export and Development). Latvia's presence was assured by the Investments and Development Agency of Latvia. Spain's attendance was supported by the Spanish Association of Construction, Public Works and Mining Equipment Exporters.

Enterprise Greece supported the Greek presence. Italy was represented by the Brescia, Treviso, Vicenza and Bolzano chambers of commerce. The Portuguese presence was supported by the Associação Empresarial de Portugal.

Africa

Making its first appearance at BATIMAT, Algeria occupied a 500 m2 pavilion backed by its Ministry of Trade (Safex). Maroc Export, flying the flag for Morocco with 12 exhibitors, was particularly popular with visitors. Côte d’Ivoire and, for the first time, Cameroon, also had pavilions, sponsored by the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development. Egypt had 9 stands in total over the three trade shows.

Asia

Turkey was represented by Istanbul Mineral and Metal Exporters in a 300 m2 pavilion within the Structure and Envelope section of BATIMAT and by Turkish HVAC-R exporters at INTERCLIMA+ELECHB. South Korea, under the aegis of KOTRA, made quite an impact with its first appearance, exhibiting high-end interior design products.

Francophone countries boost international visitor numbers

The 65,745 international visitors to Le Mondial du Bâtiment came from 175 countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Germany, Ivory Coast, Italy, Lebanon, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, UK, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.

Our guests of honour, the Francophone world, contributed greatly to this success, attracting many visitors, decision-makers and owners of concrete projects from its high-growth member countries: Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Romania, Senegal, Switzerland, Togo, etc.

The Francophone Pavilion/Francophone Institute for Sustainable Development, opened by Mr Adama Ouane, Director of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, welcomed representatives from some 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Togo), North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia) and Belgium, Canada and France, and organised 20 talks on the topic of sustainable construction in French-speaking countries, which attracted a combined audience of over 500.

Le Mondial du Bâtiment's major awareness-raising and advertising campaign definitely paid off, with more than 60 delegations, mainly from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, coming to meet and network with manufacturers, project owners and investors from the world over.

Source: BATIMAT
Photography: BATIMAT
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