Domotex Asia / ChinaFloor 2005 Attendance Up

Shanghai, China, April 11—-Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor 2005 has reached new heights in the Asian marketplace for floor coverings. Year after year, the show breaks records in number of exhibitors and visitors. This year, 588 exhibitors presented their flooring products on 46,000 square meters of exhibition space in four halls of The Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), interacting with the 25,300 visitors, all of which are new records in Asian floor covering trade shows. With a growth in visitors (+33.5%) and a growth in exhibition space (+33.3%) the show has reinforced its position as a leading exhibition in the Asian market. With the support of Domotex Hannover, the world’s leading trade fair for floor coverings, Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor is now ranked 3rd worldwide. Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor 2005 has certainly captured the interest of major buyers from around the world. "Looking for new suppliers" was the main reason to visit the show, as indicated by 45.8% of the visitors. The profile of the visitors was of a high level; with 27.2% of the visitors described as "executive management" and 61.3% described as "senior management." The visitors were mainly traders and buyers, but many manufacturers, retailers, and designers also attended the show. Well over 12% of visitors were from abroad, with Japan, Korea, the USA and Australia leading the way. The show received a total of 3,200 international visitors from 71 countries. The international visitors did not only focus on buying floorings made in China, but also looked for potential partners to set up their own production in China. "The growth in the Chinese and Asian flooring market could really be felt at the show. The atmosphere at the show was very energetic, and you could see everybody at the booths was hungry to do business. The show again proved to be the best business platform in Asia for floor coverings," said Wilbert Heijmans, senior project manager of the show. The major display categories were machine-made and hand-made rugs and carpets, textile and resilient floor coverings, wooden and parquet flooring of all kinds, laminates as well as stone and ceramic floors. Further display categories included machines, tools, accessories and raw materials for the floor coverings industry, as well as information on applications and laying techniques. With its 32nd edition, China international Carpet Fair showed a joint participation of Chinese manufacturers under the umbrella of Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor for the first time. The exhibitors covered a space of 5,000 square meters to display the big variety of Chinese hand-made carpets. This enriching cooperation will be continued also for 2006. Again the confidence in Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor was confirmed by joint participations from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States of America and by the European pavilion. The members of the pavilions enjoyed an impressing presentation with full organizational support. The third installment of the architect and designer conference, Contract+Design.asia, was held in Shanghai in conjunction with Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor. Over 350 architects and designers participated in order to share and discuss the latest views and trends in construction and design in Asia. A total of seven top-level industry speakers presented their works and ideas. Among them were Claudio Silverstrin (UK), Riken Yamamoto (Japan) and Qingyun Ma (China). Professional participants from six countries joined the Floordiscovering program. This five-day program included factory visits in Shanghai, a visit of the show, and a seminar about the Chinese floor covering market led by three industry experts. The program gave the attendees a chance to share their views on the market, as well as receive in-depth knowledge about current concerns in the floorcoverings industry.