Increased number of exhibitors and visitors - products from the Far East more popular than ever

Cologne, 27.02.2019

From Cologne out into the world: Asia-Pacific Sourcing opened its doors in the Cologne exhibition halls from 25 to 27 February 2019 and was bigger and more international than ever before: 786 exhibitors from 18 countries presented tools and products as well as new items and trends among Asian products from the house, garden and leisure sector on 31,500 square metres of exhibition space. This corresponded to a 22 percent increase in the number of exhibitors. The trade fair also experienced growth in the number of visitors: Including estimates for the last day of the fair, around 7,700 visitors from 84 countries came to Cologne. This corresponded to a 5 percent increase in the number of exhibitors and an over 30 percent increase in the level of internationality. "Asia-Pacific Sourcing brings the offerings of the growth markets in Asia together with the increased demand from Europe and North America in a compressed format at the location in Cologne," stated Catja Caspary, Vice President Trade Fair Management of Koelnmesse GmbH. "When it closed the trade fair had obtained an excellent result in terms of the numbers of exhibitors and visitors. The growth confirms that our strategic further development of the trade fair satisfies the needs of the market - worldwide." In addition to the existing offer of exhibits, the top players also presented high-quality products on the exclusive 'Best of China' platform for the second time. The product segment of the trade fair was additionally expanded. The changes also became tangible to the trade fair visitors in the form of a new logo and key visuals, which Asia-Pacific Sourcing launched at the beginning of the trade fair.

Products from the segments Garden Equipment and Lifestyle in the Garden, Grill and Camping, Sport and Leisure, Table Decorations, Household Goods and Kitchen Equipment, Gift Items, Living Accessories and Seasonal Items, Large Household Appliances and Small Electrical Appliances were new among the range of offers. The expanded product range met with a positive response from the visitors, as did the repeated parallelism to the International Trade Fair for Retail Promotions and Imports (IAW Fair), which opened its doors in Hall 10 in close proximity to Asia-Pacific Sourcing. The visitors profited from an even larger selection of promotional products, trend articles and seasonal items as a result of the further event.

Satisfaction across the board

In addition to the quantity, Asia-Pacific Sourcing also convinced in terms of quality. After the premiere in 2017, with around 38 exhibitors the presentation platform 'Best of China' was able to increase its number of participants again. The further improved quality of the trade fair was also reflected in the level of satisfaction among the visitors: According to an independent visitor survey, 71 percent of the visitors were satisfied or indeed very satisfied in terms of having met their trade fair goals. Furthermore, almost 68 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with the event as a whole. The participating exhibitors also assessed Asia-Pacific Sourcing positively: More than 70 percent of the exhibitors thus predicted that they would definitely or probably exhibit again at Asia-Pacific 2021. The recommendation rate was correspondingly equally high: Just under 87 percent of the exhibitors interviewed would recommend an associated company to participate at the next Asia-Pacific Sourcing.

New look and feel

Asia-Pacific Sourcing is part of the hardware/ironware portfolio of Koelnmesse. This also include EISENWARENMESSE - International Hardware Fair Cologne as well as the Hardware Forum in Milan/Italy and CHIS - China International Hardware Show in Shanghai/China. In order to underline this unit more strongly and convey the excellent position of Asia-Pacific Sourcing outside of Asia, a new key visual and logo were developed based on the appearance of EISENWARENMESSE - International Hardware Fair Cologne. The key visual shows exemplary product icons from the event's range of offers. At the same time, it visualises the core theme as well as the diversity of the trade fair's product portfolio. The focal colour of the key visual and of the new logo of Asia-Pacific Sourcing is still orange, enhanced by blue. The new look and feel was presented to the trade fair visitors for the first time at the opening of Asia-Pacific Sourcing 2019.

Asia-Pacific Sourcing 2019 in figures

In 2019, 786 exhibitors (2017: 644) from 18 countries (14) participated in Asia-Pacific Sourcing: China was the largest exhibitor nation with 639 exhibitors, followed by Hong Kong with 51 exhibitors, Taiwan with 40 exhibitors and India with 20 exhibitors. Including estimates for the last day of the fair, around 7,700 (7,300) visitors from 84 (65) countries were recorded at Asia-Pacific Sourcing 2019, this corresponds to a growth rate of 5 percent.

Koelnmesse – Hardware worldwide

As an international top organiser of trade fairs, Koelnmesse is the global market leader for the product sections hardware/ironware divided up into the segments Tools, Industrial Supplies, Fasteners and Fixings, Fittings, Home Improvement as well as for the innovations of these industries. The leading trade fair EISENWARENMESSE - International Hardware Fair Cologne as well as Asia-Pacific Sourcing in Cologne, the Hardware Forum in Milan/Italy and CHIS - China International Hardware Show in Shanghai/China are exemplary for this.

www.hardware-worldwide.com