With around 30,000 trade visitors from 80 countries (2011: 32,292), this ‘Trade Show for Jewellery and Watches’ has once again underlined its importance for the international market.
Around one third of the total number of trade visitors came from outside Germany. The strongest contingents of foreign visitors came from Austria, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
The highest increases in visitor numbers were seen in the figures for the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and for Israel, Japan, and South Africa. Because of the economic situation, however, visitor numbers from Greece, Italy, and Spain declined.
1,134 exhibitors from 37 nations took part in the show – in absolute terms, that´s 62 exhibiting companies more than last year, or a yearon-year increase of 5.8 percent. Expansion was also seen in the net exhibition space at the fair: this increased in comparison to 2011 by 4.9 percent to 33,337 square meters.
Inhorgenta Munich once again covered a total of 66,000 square meters of space, divided over six exhibition halls at Messe München International.
The changes at Inhorgenta Munich were well received. Klaus Dittrich, Chairman, and CEO of Messe München: “In many one-to-one talks, we gathered responses to the changes at Inhorgenta Munich. The result was clear: The changes are welcomed – over the course of the fair; even the critics changed their mind towards a favourable view. Already it is clear that there will be lots of new exhibitors at INHORGENTA MUNICH in 2013, also many existing exhibitors want to book larger booths.”
Exhibitors from all segments confirmed a high level of order activity. One of them, Jörg Gellner, Managing Director of Gellner, put it like this: “Inhorgenta Munich is the most important barometer for our 2012 collection. This year, too, our sales have been very good and we are very pleased. Great customers and a great mood!
Also, Frank Heringer, Director of the Diamond Group, said: “It´s a great atmosphere at Inhorgenta Munich – we are very happy to be taking part. We are delighted with the entire concept. The quality and the quantity of visitors is outstanding – we will be leaving this fair with very full order books. Next year, the Diamond Group will most certainly be taking part again in Inhorgenta Munich.”
One major factor in the success of Inhorgenta Munich was the new and clearly structured hall layouts, which gave improved orientation within the very broad spectrum covered at the fair, from luxury, gemstones, design and lifestyle through to technology, packaging and marketing. The new look in the halls, complete with stylishly designed communication and relaxation zones, also worked very well. Norbert Jensen, Managing Director of Näher & Jensen, Raymond Weil: “What we at Raymond Weil noticed particularly this year is the excellent segmentation at the fair, the brisk order activity and the overall positive mood. From our point of view the fair has developed extremely positively.”
The visitor survey, conducted by market researchers Gelszus, highlighted the positive mood among the international participants: 95 percent of the visitors to Inhorgenta Munich gave the fair overall a top rating of “good to excellent.” Their response to the question about the future importance of the fair, over 30 percent said that it would gain in significance.
Bas van Greven, Ripassa Jewellers, Netherlands: “Inhorgenta Munich is a well organized fair that I very much enjoy visiting. The location of Munich is an ideal place for a trade show and very easy to reach. It offers lots of scope for good talks, with quiet lounges. The range on show at the exhibitors’ booths this year – particularly in high-value jewellery – was exceptionally attractive.”
Stuart Moore, Design Jewellery shops in New York, Newport Beach and San Francisco, USA: “Inhorgenta Munich is the most important trade fair for us. It is an excellent place for one-stop-shopping – all our relevant partners are at this fair. The excellent service of the Top Buyers programme, the atmosphere in the halls, the quality of the exhibitors and especially the outstanding young designers in Hall C2 – this makes the trade fair so unique. We are going to exhibit also next year with our own brand.”
Oliver Rapport, Director, M.A. Rapport, Great Britain: “Inhorgenta Munich is a very well-organised trade fair. As first time exhibitors, we are pleased with the amount of interesting contacts we have made from all over Europe. It has been a very worthwhile experience.”
