This year's spoga+gafa show closed on Sept. 6 with more than 39,000 visitors from 106 countries recorded, an increase in attendance of around six percent in comparison to the previous year.
"Spoga+gafa 2016 was a total success. The international garden fair received top marks both in terms of quality and quantity this year and thus further reinforced its position as the world's leading trade fair for the green industry," says Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH. "With a 60 percent foreign share of visitors, the high level of internationality of this event was once again confirmed. It is particularly pleasing that we were also able to record a seven percent increase in the number of visitors from Germany. We also had very positive feedback to the range of offers and the presences of the exhibitors in the halls as well to the supporting program.
In total, 2,032 companies from 57 countries (foreign share: 83 percent) selected spoga+gafa as the platform for the presentation of their new products and presented the entire world of the garden in the Cologne exhibition halls over the three days.
John W. Herbert, European DIY-Retail Association (EDRA) / General Secretary, assessed this year's spoga+gafa: "This year's gafa was for our EDRA members (European DIY Retail Association) and GHIN members (Global Home Improvement Network) an exceptionally successful trade fair. With an absolute record number of member companies visiting spoga+gafa, the feedback has been most positive. Not only have our members been again impressed with the globally unparalleled number of exhibitors, but also for the excellent and caring service given by the Cologne Trade Fair to our overseas members. This was much appreciated. As a fair representation of the feedback we have received, I spoke to the four members of the our 2nd largest Japanese member, Komeri, with over 1.000 stores, and they were delighted with what they experienced at this year's gafa and are now taking time later in the week to look at the stores in the region. The Worlds No 1 company Home Depot were also well represented at gafa with a delegation of buyers from the US and Canada.
EDRA/GHIN has 121 home improvement retail members operating in 102 countries with over 23,000 stores and members' sales exceed €230 billion. Spoga+gafa is an EDRA/GHIN recommended trade fair."
On behalf of the associations participating in spoga+gafa, Frank Miedaner, Wester-Stephan Deutschland GmbH / Managing Director Germany and Chairman of the Advisory Board of spoga+gafa, summed up: "spoga+gafa is an important trendsetter for the industry. The good frequency of visitors in the exhibition halls impressively substantiated that this year. The high share of international visitors is also extremely positive. Furthermore, the high-quality visitor structure had a very positive effect on the mood in the exhibition halls. In total, spoga+gafa 2016 was a fantastic, successful new products show. The high degree of the product innovations exhibited will have a very positive influence on the spring business."
A total success
spoga+gafa 2016 covered a surface measuring 225,000 square meters and spanned Halls 1 to 7, 9 and 10. As a result of spoga horse, which is staged parallel, relocating to Hall 11, the four product sections of spoga+gafa were presented along the entire length of the trade fair boulevard without interruption. This condensed representation of the garden living, garden creation & care, garden bbq and garden unique sections was highly appreciated by the trade visitors due to the optimized routes. The design of the boulevard of ideas with living green and large-surface secondary placements, as well as the Plant Allee in Passage 4/5 also went well with the trade fair guests. The conceptual adaption of the garden unique product segment also paid off: The expansion of the range of products by introducing further top brands ensured a higher frequency of visitors and increased the satisfaction of both the exhibitors and visitors.
Good mood and top quality
The first-class range of offers, optimized routes and design of the overall event surface, as well as the target group-oriented supporting program, had a positive effect on the satisfaction level of the visitors, as the results of the visitor survey underlined. 78 percent of the people interviewed were satisfied or very satisfied as far as achieving the goals of their visit were concerned. As such, the recommendation rate was correspondingly high: 91 percent would recommend a business acquaintance to visit spoga+gafa. The quality of the visitors also contributed towards the good mood at the trade fair: around 71 percent of the visitors interviewed are involved in procurement decisions, 38 percent are even decisive in the decision-making process. In terms of the visitor structure, people who work at management level in the companies or businesses or in the buying and procurement departments are the most strongly represented group of visitors at spoga+gafa.
spoga+gafa 2016 in figures:
2,032 companies from 57 countries participated at spoga+gafa in 2016, 83 percent of which came from abroad. These included 334 exhibitors and 13 additionally represented companies from Germany and 1,667 exhibitors and 18 additionally represented companies from abroad. Including estimates for the last day of the fair, around 39,000 visitors from 106 countries attended spoga+gafa 2016. The share of foreign trade visitors was 60 percent.
spoga+gafa 2017 will be staged from 3 to 5 September. For further information visit www.spogagafa.com.
TAG DES GARTENS 2017 will be opening its doors to end consumers and trade visitors on 2 and 3 September. For further information visit www.tagdesgartens-koeln.com.