MILAN, Italy – The results of HOST 2013 confirm Italian leadership in the industry, with 133,000 professional visitors arriving from 162 countries during the five days of the event, which was held at the fieramilano pavilions from Friday, 18 October to today.
Compared with the 2011 edition of HOST, attendance registered a rise of 7%, with a boom in international professional visitors to 51,600 (+21%) demonstrating the importance of the biennial appointment at fieramilano.
The increase in professional visitors is constant and stretches across all 162 countries, with peaks in countries with a high degree of growth such as the UAE (+141%) and Russia (+64%), and historic nations, such as Japan (+24%) and Germany (+14%).
Fiera Milano had a winning idea with its Expo Matching Program, which had a hand in organising 38,400 engagements between manufacturers, suppliers and retail.
“Strong signals confirm the world leadership of HOST in the professional catering industry,”noted Michele Perini, President of Fiera Milano S.p.A. “The entire world considers this event a key engagement to build and reinforce business opportunities.
The results assume a relevant value for the country system and remind players not to fall prey to the mindset of decline.
For Host operators, it represents an opportunity to project into the global markets, because the five days give attendees the ability to make contact with all the industry players and recognise the excellence of this industry.
Our commitment does not end with this event: Fiera Milano continues to be a partner of companies that want to remain on the global markets.”
There was also a major increase in exhibitors from historic countries such as Great Britain (+33%), the Netherlands (+28%), Spain (+19%), and the U.S. (+17%). For the first time, HOST welcomed exhibiting companies from Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Hungary, Taiwan, Venezuela and Vietnam.
More than 400 events were organised as part of the event, including workshops, seminars and demonstrations by five-star chefs. Finally, there was plenty of space allocated to the issue of training, in the view that focusing on development and expertise is a winning strategy to maintain and reinforce Italian leadership in the industry.
The next edition of HOST will take place from 23 to 27 October 2015,during the World Expo in Milan.
HOST 2013 at a glance
- 133 thousand attended over the five days of the event (+7% compared to 2011)
- 38.7% international attendees (+21% compared to 2011)
- Double-digit confirmations from the US (+28%), Russia (+64%), UAE (+141%), Japan (+24%), and Germany (+14%)
- 1,700 exhibitors from 48 countries (+6.5% with 350 new entries), of which 559 international (+16.5%)
