MILAN, Italy – The 2015 edition of Host was always going to be a bit special, given that it would be running concurrently with Expo Milan. But the final figures far exceeded expectations. Indeed no fewer than 150,968 professional visitors came to the show, up 13.5% on the 2013 edition.
Further confirmation of the notably international nature of the event comes from the exponential increase in foreign professionals: 60,383 presences from 172 countries, accounting for 40% of the total and up 17%.
Some major markets really did make all the difference, especially the United States, with visitors up 77.16%, thanks also to the accreditation of the event by the US Commercial Service and the consequent boom in American exhibitors (+26%).
The event is also appealing more and more to Chinese professionals, whose numbers were up by over one third (+35.8%) despite the slowdown in that country’s GDP, which this year will grow by a “mere” 7% or so.
As for markets closer to home, Host2015 provided an indicator of the economic recovery now taking place: visitors from Spain were up by over a quarter (+26%) and those from France by over one fifth (+21.21%), while the growth in visitors from Germany was also in double figures (+13.95%).
“Host reflects the new geo-political scenario and is opening up to markets like Iran, Africa and Cuba,” commented Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Fiera Milano.
“The 13.5% rise in visitors came about as a result of several different factors: the focus on offering firms extensive, long-term support, strong commitment to scouting abroad (thanks also to the collaboration of Italy’s Foreign Trade Agency) and synergies with the city and with everything that it represents for the Made in Italy label.
A strategy undertaken successfully by Host, and one which will see us now involved in accelerating the internationalisation of the other fairs we run.”
The logistical management of running the fair on the concluding days of EXPO, which itself attracted record numbers of visitors, is also judged to have been a huge success: “thanks to constant coordination with the police authorities and the efficient collaboration of all public transportation sectors, along with the effective contribution of all the technologies Fiera Milano itself has, it was possible to manage extremely high numbers of people and means of transport with great flexibility and efficiency, confirming our well-established expertise in running large-scale events,” Peraboni went on.
Host2015 was also enlivened by over 400 events, including seminars and workshops, show-cooking demonstrations and tastings, but also cookery contests and championships.
And this year’s “champions” were duly crowned: Como’s Gianni Cocco won the title of Best Barista in Italy, while The World Trophy of Pastry Ice Cream Chocolate was won somewhat unexpectedly by Japan, with Italy’s fiercely competitive national team having to make do with the silver medal.
A Guinness world record was also set this year, for the largest number of different chocolate-flavoured ice cream: over 120.
The next edition of HostMilano will be the 40th, and will be held at Fieramilano, Rho, from Friday 20th to Tuesday 24th October, 2017.
