Premier trade show and exhibition organiser, Epoc Messe Frankfurt GmbH, expressed confidence in the Middle East market, after a highly successful exhibition season that saw strong results for all three of their trade exhibitions which took place during the spring-summer season in Dubai. The three exhibitions together featured 2,036 exhibitors and welcomed close to 40,000 visitors.
Automechanika Middle East, the largest international trade fair for the automotive aftermarket in the wider Middle East, Beautyworld Middle East, the leading trade event for the beauty and wellness
industry and Hardware + Tools Middle East, the region’s only dedicated exhibition for hardware, tools, materials and machinery, all recorded commendable growth signifying upbeat market
sentiment in the region.
“We are extremely pleased with the growth and progress of our events,” said Mr. Ahmed Pauwels, Chief Executive Officer of Epoc Messe Frankfurt. “We are reputed for organising highly focused,
sector-specific events that are networking platforms of choice in their particular fields.”
He added: “The continued success of these events is a result of ongoing market research and the regular adaptation of our events to suit the needs of businesses in the region. As business sentiment consolidates, we are looking forward to further developing these events to keep pace with this
exciting market place.”
The Middle East’s fascination for the automobile and all things car related continues unabated. This was reflected in the resounding success of Automechanika Middle East, which attracted over 16,000 auto enthusiasts and registered its biggest event yet with over 1,000 exhibitors. New products and launches for the Middle East market caught much attention, while strong interest continued in
modification, tuning and specialised vehicles.
Mr. Alex Borla, Chief Executive Officer, Borla Performance Industry Inc, commented: “The exhibit in Dubai has created an environment like no other; it was very well managed, very personal and most of all the organizers did their homework and understood their exhibitors and their products. We at Borla Performance Industries left Dubai with a clear understanding of the market, both geographically and demographically. We learned and discovered viable outlets for our products, made some friends and most of all returned to the US with significant orders.”
Ongoing interest in the beauty and wellness industry was reflected in the highly successful
Beautyworld Middle East, which featured 709 exhibitors from 44 countries. The exhibition welcomed over 16,000 visitors, representing a 7% increase on last year. There was strong demand for halal and environmentally friendly cosmetics and beauty products - sectors that have seen particularly strong interest of late.
On the success of this year’s exhibition, Mr. Michele Moro, Regional Sales Manager, MEA for
Technogym, commented: “At Beautyworld Middle East 2010 we have seen better quality and focused
visitors than last year. We have met a cross section of the market from the region. Beautyworld Middle East is a great occasion to see clients and people and a great opportunity to introduce our new concepts.”
This year’s edition of Hardware+Tools Middle East reported an increase of 20 per cent in size over that of last year with exhibitors also noting an increase in the number of business enquiries from across the region.
Mr Hani Arwani, General Manager, Arwani Trading commented: “There is momentum from buyers and the market has been moving up in the last few months. The quality of the visitors has been good with some serious buyers and we will be here again next year. We have had some serious
discussions with both distributors and potential customers.”
The spring-summer trade events which exceeded the organiser’s expectations, indicate the buoyant mood prevalent in the markets of the region and bode well for the upcoming autumn-winter
calendar.
Light Middle East and Garden+Landscaping Middle East will take place in October. Including these events, Epoc Messe Frankfurt organises a total of 10 sector-specific trade shows and conferences including also: Intersec Trade Fair and Conference, Paperworld Middle East, Playworld Middle East, Festivalworld Middle East and Materials Handling Middle East.
