North Palm Beach, FL, March 31—Ceramic and stone show Coverings 2003, held last week at Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida released oreliminary attendance figures this weekend. The annual show, which began mere days after the start of the war in Iraq, drew a total attendance of 26,842. Of that total, 18,892 were classified as verified professional trade attendees, 7,824 were exhibitor registrants and 126 were members of the media.
Professional trade attendees were broken down as follows:
Distributors 43%
Installation/Contractors 13%
Retail 11%
Manufacturer/Allied 10%
Fabricator 9%
Specifier/Designing 6%
Commercial Buyer 4%
From a geographic standpoint, 76% of attendees were from the U.S. and 24% were non-U.S. visitors.
Exhibiting at this year’s show were 1,450 company’s from 45 countries occupying more than half a million square feet of new exhibit space.
Show manager William J. “Skip” Mason said, “Our exhibitors were great, they understood that the situation was beyond our control. The exhibitors committed themselves to maximizing the customers that were in attendance. The results were highly satisfying.”
Mason went on to say that at the conclusion of this year’s show, “Exhibitors showed their ongoing support for Coverings by turning in reservations for exhibit space in 2004 at the highest level in the 16 years that the show has been held. That’s the proof that exhibitors have a strong and long-term commitment to the Coverings marketplace. The show's theme, 'The Power of Being There' held true."
Next year’s show and conference will take place on April 27-30, 2004 at the new North/South Complex of the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.
