Consumption is in

For the first time ever more than half of the visitors arriving in Frankfurt for Ambiente, the consumer goods fair, came from abroad. The overall total of visitors saw an increase of 1.4 per cent to more than 140 000. The number of exhibitors at the fair, which used “be ambitious” as its slogan, was 3.5 per cent higher at 4 688. The summing-up of Detlef Braun, managing director of Messe Frankfurt, was correspondingly positive: in his words, “Ambiente 2013 is proof that consumption is in fashion.” And in the opinion of Thomas Grothkopp, managing director of a federal association for tabletop, housewares and home fashion, “I think the entire industry was present in Frankfurt.” The ten most significant visitor nations were Italy, France, the Netherlands, the USA, Britain, Switzerland, Spain, China, the Russian Federation and Austria. Visitors from eastern Europe (Russia and the Baltic States) as well as from South America (Argentina and Brazil) came in numbers that showed double-digit percentage increases. The fair also reported increases from the booming regions of the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar), as well as from India. This year’s partner country was France, which is why not only the French minister of trade, commerce and tourism travelled to the city on the river Main to officially open the fair together with Philipp Rösler, the German minister for economic affairs: Catherine Deneuve, the doyenne of the French film industry, brought a touch of glamour to the exhibition halls when she visited the event on the Monday morning. Next year Japan will feature as the partner country. Dates: 7 – 11 February 2014.