Domotex Germany 2024: Domotex Germany 2024 attracts 18,000 visitors with a focus on sustainability and innovation – Feb 2024

By Kemp Harr

Domotex Germany, historically the largest flooring trade show in the world, was held in Hannover, Germany in early January. This was the second show post-Covid, and the first show after the pandemic that didn’t compete with the Bau show in Munich. Attendance and exhibit space for this show were up from last year to 18,000 attendees and 50,000 square meters (540,000 square feet) of exhibit space in seven buildings, but down considerably from the January 2020 expo, which Floor Focus attended right before the outbreak of the pandemic.

In January 2020, the show hosted its 32nd edition in 11 exhibit halls, totaling just over one million square feet of exhibit space, and attracted 35,000 attendees. So, 2020 was roughly double the size of 2024 in both space and attendance. But while 2024 didn’t attract the same size crowd, the quality of the exhibits as well as the pertinent content of the programs made the show as worthwhile as ever.

This year, 71% of the audience was from outside Germany and 45% was from outside Europe. In fact, attendees came from 170 different countries to attend this show. This makes it a perfect venue for launching global brands and sharing the latest innovations.

All things considered, most of the exhibitors were pleased with this year’s show. Nine percent of the attendees were from America, and while that’s not a big number, it included a delegation from several big retailers, Floor & Décor among them, as well as several distributors, including Belknap Haines. One key area where this show excels is in its programming-by inviting key speakers who are up on the latest design and demographic trends and workplace culture, as well as recent innovations and global sustainability initiatives. This year, the show invited judges from around the world. In addition, the event presents unbiased awards in the areas of sustainability, rugs and hardwood flooring. One of the refreshing aspects of how the winners are selected is that the show has no say-so the awards don’t go to the biggest exhibitors.

A factor that might have impacted attendance is the fact that the overall economy in Europe is sluggish, and demand for floorcovering is down in some sectors by as much as 30%. Thanks to demographics here in the U.S., and the fact that we have the strong Millennial wave of population creating demand for housing and consumer goods, our economy has been growing by mid-single digits, while Germany’s GDP has been flat. During Domotex this year, the regional trains that connect all the major cities went on strike, and the nation’s farmers attempted to close the major secondary roads with their tractors to protest the government’s decision to cut diesel fuel subsidies. When the show opened the first day to a crowd, you could see the relief in the eyes of the exhibitors.

One driver of growth for this year’s Domotex came from a hall completely devoted to Asian suppliers. Last year, you may recall that China was locked down with a Covid outbreak in January. Europe is becoming an increasingly important market for Asian-produced flooring due to the absence of tariffs and a more open acceptance for global trade.

The topic of sustainability is further along in Europe, and as a result, many of the speakers at this year’s event focused their presentations on this topic. In fact, the theme of the main stage for Domotex was labeled “Floored by Nature: The Green Collection.” One presentation was given by a European-based organization called CISUFLO, which stands for Circular Sustainable Floor Coverings. The group has a goal of minimizing environmental impact in the EU flooring sector by setting up a systemic framework for circular and sustainable floorcoverings. The show presented ten sustainability awards for products that were judged to be exemplary from a sustainability standpoint. We posted the winners on FloorDaily.

Another key benefit of attending this show is to learn more about the latest innovations in the flooring industry. All three of the global Intellectual property brands-I4F, Unilin and Välinge-hosted booths to present their latest developments for the new year. Roomvo also came to the show to present its digital room visualizer and how it is designed to interact with a big screen kiosk to lure consumers into the dealers’ showroom to complete the sale. Direct digital printing on rigid LVT was also a big topic of discussion at the show. Hymmen, which has sold five Apollo print lines, was represented at the show by I4F. This technology produces a high-resolution image with grain texture and eliminates the need for print films. Unilin was also launching its Lucent technology in Germany, which won’t be available in the U.S. for another year.

Global brands that exhibited at this year’s show include CFL, Nox, Classen, Gerflor, Card-Monroe, Tuftco, Oriental Weavers, Kaleen, Amorim, Uzin Utz, Kronospan, Republic and Power Dekor. Several other brands came to walk the show.

Last year, Deutsche Messe, the company that owns Domotex, announced that it was considering changing its schedule for Domotex Germany and only hosting the show every other year. Based on the success of this year’s show, this decision is now being debated. Stay tuned for more on that.

Copyright 2024 Floor Focus

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