17.02.2010 Spring in the air despite icy temperatures – exhibitors and visitors delighted by the new Ambiente

Over 133,000 buyers from all over the world made their way to Frankfurt am Main for the biggest international consumer-goods fair from 12 to 16 February 2010. While Germany shivered in the icy grip of winter, the vast range of products for the table, kitchen, home, furnishing and giving to be seen created a spring-like atmosphere in the exhibition halls. 4,504 exhibitors from 93 countries captured the attention of international trade visitors with their new products and presentations. Despite extremely bad weather conditions and snow chaos, there was only a two percent drop in the number of trade visitors, most of them from Germany. A complete contrast was presented by foreign visitors, the number of whom jumped by over ten percent in certain segments to reach over 47 percent of the total. Thus, the 2010 event was the most international Ambiente ever. After Germany, the top-five visitor nations were Italy, The Netherlands, France, Spain and Switzerland. Huge, double-digit increases were recorded from countries such as the USA (22 percent), Turkey (37 percent), Russia (39 percent), Brazil (44 percent) and the United Arab Emirates (70 percent).

“The traffic chaos caused by heavy falls of snow did not make life easy for visitors this year. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of visitors from outside Germany shows that the international economy is well on the way to recovery. The trade has regained its optimism, the industry radiates creative energy and we at Messe Frankfurt are delighted that, with the restructured Ambiente, we have created an ideal setting for successful business”, said Dr. Michael Peters, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt GmbH.