Ambiente Report

There were five days of sunshine over Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre and five days of high spirits at Ambiente. By the time it closed its doors on Tuesday evening, the international consumer-goods fair in Frankfurt, which was opened by Germany's Minister for Economics and Technology, Michael Glos had once again attracted almost 150,000 visitors.

The fair was given a positive rating by almost all participants on both the exhibitor and visitor sides. And this opinion was shared by the organisers:

‘Ambiente 2008 has given a clear signal for the coming year and confirmed its position as the world's leading and biggest consumer-goods fair. The industry presented persuasive product innovations and the international trade was in the mood for ordering. As an indicator of future business developments, Ambiente gives all concerned good reason to take an optimistic view of the coming months’, said Dr. Michael Peters, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt GmbH.

Increased visitor internationality
This year, the world's biggest trade fair for the table, kitchen and home, furnishing was more international than ever before. 46 percent of all visitors came from outside Germany, a jump of around seven percent compared to the previous year, which compensated for the slight decline in the number of visitors from the domestic market. Italy heads the list of the best-represented visitor nations and is followed by Spain, France (with a double-digit rate of visitor growth), Great Britain and Netherlands. Moreover, positive figures were also returned by all East European countries and important overseas markets, such as Japan, the United Arab Emirates, South America and India. Despite the weak dollar exchange rate, 3,500 visitors came to Frankfurt from the United States of America. Altogether, buyers from 138 countries of the world made their way to Frankfurt for Ambiente 2008 (2007: 128 countries) where they encountered 4,590 exhibitors, 69 percent from outside Germany.

Exhibitors of small electrical appliances even more satisfied
Ambiente has further strengthened its position as the presentation platform for small electrical appliances. More than 70 exhibitors from this segment took advantage of the fair to cultivate existing contacts and to make new ones. Heinz Werner Ochs, Chairman of Pro Business ElektroHausgeräte e.V., said: ‘This has been the best Ambiente for Pro Business members. The echo to the products and innovations shown has been extraordinary - much better than last year. The number of visitors from outside Germany was also very good.’
This opinion was shared by Susanne Hauck of small electrical appliance manufacturer De'Longhi: ‘The level of internationality rises from year to year. And the significance of the fair for domestic business also continues to rise. The number of visitors was very good. Customers are very appreciative of the fact that they can obtain detailed information about the products at the fair.’