The fair welcomed 90,572 buyers from145 countries, 8% more than last year and declares this to have been record edition for both supply and demand
Cevisama has surpassed itself yet again in an historic edition. The final figures for the 36th edition of the ceramic tile, bathroom equipment and natural stone industries fair confirm the most optimistic predictions that indicated that the event would be a record breaker in terms of both its offering and the number of buyers attending. In fact, Cevisama 2018 recorded a total of 90,572 professionals coming through its doors, from 145 countries. The figure is 8% up on last year’s, which was in itself very positive, and is the fair’s second-highest ever – only 2006 achieved a better result, with 93,000 buyers attending.
The most outstanding figures relate to those for international visitors, with the fair beating its own records for numbers of foreign professionals attending: 17,651. The number is the highest number ever, a 5.24% increase on the previous high and means that overseas visitors accounted for 20% of all visitors to Cevisama this year.
A review of the international figures reveals that Cevisama 2018 was successful in attracting the markets that are pivotal for the industries exhibiting: 50% of the foreign buyers came from traditional European marketplaces such as Italy, France, Portugal, Germany and the United Kingdom (which between them accounted for 32.21% of the total number of foreign visitors), Russia, Poland and Belgium, plus north Africa (especially Morocco and Algeria), Israel, the United States and India.
As for the number of Spanish visitors to Cevisama, this was 8.6% up: 72,921 as against 67,124 last year. The re-awakening of the Spanish market thus made itself felt at the fair, not just through the strong visitor numbers but also in the form of greater interest on the part of foreign exhibitors.
The visitor profile for Cevisama is primarily retailers, distributors, manufacturers, sales agents, buying groups and specifiers – architects and decorators.
According to the report commissioned by the fair’s organisers, 67.3% of visitors were mainly interested in the ceramic tile offering; 44% in bathroom equipment; 34% in natural stone, 30% in roof tiles, bricks, glass blocks and display furniture; 24% in raw materials, frits, glazes and colours for ceramic tile manufacturing and 21.6% in machinery.
The fair’s president, Manuel Rubert, underscored that he was very happy with the results, not just the positive figures but also, primarily, “because the exhibitors have told us that a huge amount of business has been generated from the fair.” In his opinion, “the growth in the number of Spanish buyers attending has been matched by an historic number of professionals visiting from other markets. This has boosted the fair’s international nature and is a driver for us to continue working along the same lines.”
Rubert was keen to thank Cevisama’s organizing committee and the support team at Feria Valencia for their hard work and, most especially, “the manufacturers and visitors for believing in us.” The tile trade fair’s president has said he is convinced that the next edition, which is slated to take place at the Valencia exhibition venue from 28th January to 1st February 2019, will see “fresh, even greater growth”. The entire sales and marketing team is already working on it.
