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The Textile Magazine
fEBRUARY 2012
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91
events
German exhibitors were par-
ticularly pleased with their results.
No less than 84 per cent said their
participation had been successful
to very successful, a significant in-
crease of 77 per cent over last year.
Even higher was the level of satis-
faction on the visitor side where 92
per cent said they were satisfied to
very satisfied with the range of prod-
ucts on show and the course of busi-
ness at the fair.
Against this background of orders,
product launches and new contacts,
the sector nevertheless noted that
many delegations from the distribu-
tive trades, the handicrafts trade,
design and industry were no longer
as big as in the past. This reduced
the number of visitors by a good five
per cent to around 70,000 (2011:
73,071). “The decline is primarily
due to a fall in numbers from those
European nations that have been
particularly hard hit by the debt cri-
sis, especially Italy, Spain, Greece,
France and the Netherlands”, ex-
plained Detlef Braun.
On the contrary, there was an in-
crease in the number of visitors from
the Russian Federation, the Middle
East, Turkey and the Far East. The
biggest visitor countries after Ger-
many were Italy, Turkey, China,
Great Britain, the US, France, Spain,
the Russian Federation, the Nether-
lands and Poland. Altogether, the
proportion of visitors from outside
Germany amounted to 64.2 per cent
(2011: 65.4 per cent).
Despite the prevailing economic
uncertainties, positive signals came
from Germany. Both visitors and
exhibitors are beginning the new
business year with a positive out-
look. The good prognoses are based
on a sales increase of 4.6 per cent at
the end of 2011, the result of growth
in domestic demand. And, say the
experts, demand will remain at a
high level this year.
Home and household textiles,
e.g., bed, bathroom and table linen,
textile floor coverings, curtains,
decorative fabrics and wallpaper are
particularly popular among German
consumers with demand having ris-
en steadily since the 2009 financial
crisis to a level that is higher than
that for entertainment electronics.
Thus, in 2010, German households
purchased home textiles worth an
average of Euro 224. Now, for 2012,
the IFH Retail Consultants market-
research company in Cologne is
forecasting an average household
expenditure of Euro 242 for such
products – i.e., Euro 20 or eight per
cent more. By comparison, house-
hold expenditures on entertainment
electronics were only Euro 212 in
2010 with no further growth expect-
ed in 2012.
On behalf of the German indus-
try, Martin Auerbach, Director
of the Association of the German
Home Textile Industry (Verband
der Deutschen Heimtextilien-In-
dustrie), Wuppertal, summed up the
situation as follows: “For our mem-
bers and the entire sector, Heimtex-
til 2012 has been a highly satisfac-
tory event. As the opening trade fair
of the year, it generated even more
new contacts, innovations and or-
ders than the year before, and this
will motivate us greatly over the
coming year. Additionally, He-
imtextil has continued to improve
in qualitative terms. Specific ar-
eas such as the contract sector, the
coupon business and sustainability
have been tailored perfectly to the
needs of buyers from the distribu-
tive trades, the handicrafts trade and
the contract business. Thus, Messe
Frankfurt has further increased its
expertise in the field of trade fairs