Internationality of trade visitors

The International Hardware Fair, held from 4 to 7 March 2012, attracted 53 500 trade visitors from 132 countries to Cologne. That is five per cent down on two years ago. The proportion of visitors from abroad went up by two percentage points to 61 per cent. The number of exhibitors, which totalled 2 665 from 50 countries, remained on the same level as the last event (2010: 2 686). In his statement on the fair Dr Peter Wüst, general manager of the German retailers’ association BHB, declared his support for the event: “Our dealers need this fair, which provides a comprehensive exhibition of what is a major product group. Now we will have to work together on further developing the product offer until the next staging of the event. Only by doing so can we continue to remain attractive to national and international buyers.”