Domotex 2007 Attendance Up Slightly

Hannover, Germany, January 16, 2007--Domotex Hannover 2007 came to a close on Tuesday this week and is being hailed by the international carpet and floor-coverings industry as a huge success. Industry representatives were extremely pleased with the show, saying it had delivered the high volume and caliber of business leads they had anticipated going into the event. The global showcase for carpets and floor coverings was attended by 44,000 trade visitors from more than 100 nations, up slightly on the attendance figures of 43,855 in 2005, the last directly comparable year. This year there were 1,360 exhibitors (2005: 1,244), and the net display space occupied by exhibitors was up slightly to 90,142 square meters (2005: 90,124 square meters). Stephan Ph. Kühne, Member of the Managing Board of Hannover-based Deutsche Messe AG, summed up the event as follows: "Our exhibitors and visitors are delighted. Domotex has once again set the beat for the new floor coverings business year. You couldn't help but notice the positive mood swing." Domotex's international appeal continues to grow unabated, with 80 percent of all exhibitors and 60 percent of all visitors at this year's event coming from outside Germany, as compared with 78 and 56 percent, respectively, in 2005. "This confirms Domotex's leading status among international trade fairs of its kind," reported Kühne. Domotex this year revealed pleasing growth in the already strong contingent of senior corporate decision-makers in attendance. This was clear from the visitor survey, with 91 percent of trade visitors describing their input into their companies' capital investment decisions as "advisory" to "decisive" (2005: 87 percent). 71 percent of all trade visitors described themselves as belonging to senior management (2005: 68 percent). Trade professionals attend Domotex to gauge the market and, more especially, to learn about the latest innovations and trends and do business there. This is testimony to the event's strong professional focus, cementing its status as the No. 1 platform for generating business leads in the floor coverings industry. Domotex pulled in 26,300 visitors from outside Germany, including 61 percent from Europe, with good growth from Italy, France and Poland. Equally pleasing was the statistic for the number of trade visitors from the U.S., which was up 15 percent this year to reach 2,300. Visitors came predominantly from the floor covering wholesale and retail sectors, the skilled trades (interior decorators, painters, parquet/floor fitters), and the sectors of architecture, interior design, and manufacturing. The interior design, contract flooring, furnishing and furniture sectors in particular yielded good growth in visitor numbers, as did the wood wholesale and retail trades. Exhibitors were impressed with the general buzz and buoyant mood at Domotex 2007. They rated both the quality and quantity of conversations with other industry members as excellent, and singled out the event's strong international profile for particular praise. Exhibitors themselves came from 59 different nations, spanning the world's continents. Belgium was the standout performer among the foreign contingents at the event, fielding 98 exhibitors on some 13,400 square meters of display space. Next on the international honors list was Turkey, followed by the Netherlands. Many exhibitors, including a number of global market leaders from the parquet and laminated flooring sectors, reported that, thanks to strong attendance by representatives from the floor coverings and wood wholesale/retail trades, Domotex 2007 had far exceeded their expectations.