Thanks to the firm’s satisfactory business performance over the past two years, Bella Interiors, which produces a spectrum of Myanmar crafted rattan furniture and accessories, hopes to return to the Ambiente, an annual global consumer-goods platform held in Frankfurt, next year.
Stellabeth Swezin Le, business development director of Bella Interiors, said that the firm received some new clients at the recent Ambiente 2017, and also aroused the interest of big names during its second presence at the event.
“As a market leader in Myanmar, we are proud to represent the country at such a mega fair again. We are confident that international branding will lead us to further growth in the long run,” she said.
She is excited that the Netherlands will make a special presentation at the 2018 edition of the fair as the new Ambiente Partner Country. Following Denmark, France, Japan, the USA, Italy and the United Kingdom, the Netherlands will be the seventh partner country of the fair, which will be held from 9 to 13 February next year.
Earlier this week, a total of 142,000 buyers from 154 countries made their way to Germany’s commercial hub for the fair, an increase of almost four per cent when compared to last year. There, 4,454 exhibitors from 96 countries presented the latest trends and innovations on 308,000 square metres (gross) in 27 exhibition halls.
Top German and international decision makers were also better represented than in 2016, and this ensured good export business and a positive atmosphere in the halls. The top ten visitor nations after Germany were Italy, China, France, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and Turkey.
More than 3,000 visitors came to Frankfurt from the United Kingdom, this year’s Ambiente Partner Country, an increase of around 200 over last year. There was also above-average growth in the number of visitors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, United Arab Emirates and South American nations such as Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Parallel to this, there was a significant upsurge in the number of visitors from Germany. 95 per cent of the visitors said they were satisfied with the fair.
“It is also the number one for the German retail trade. Covering the dining, living, and giving sectors, it is the professional venue for numerous German retail outlets where they order large parts of their assortment. The trade had the opportunity to discover the main trends and order the latest products,” said Thomas Grothkopp, director general of German Home and Office Association.
Matthias Schöffel, marketing manager of Schönwald, said that the event is indispensable for his firm, especially when it comes to international sales.
“The whole world comes to Frankfurt and it is an excellent opportunity to meet the vast majority of our sales partners and potential customers from all around the globe. In addition to general marketing themes and discussions with customers, the fair is also of enormous importance for us with regard to trend developments,” he said.
According to Arnold Maier, chief executive officer of AM Design, the halls are always full and that is a good sign.
“In principle, the age of order fairs is past. Making new contacts is what it is all about nowadays,” he said.
Lars Adler, chief executive officer of Hoff Interieur, said that they were very pleased with their business at the fair.
“Both the number of customers and average sales are very encouraging. We even had some unexpected customers from countries such as Iceland, Finland and Sweden. We have been able to maintain our export quota and expect to finish with a slight increase over last year. Accordingly, we are highly satisfied,” he said.
The top visitor nations on the firm’s exhibition stand were the Middle East, Lebanon and Turkey. There was a slight decline in the number of visitors from Italy. However, this was compensated for by increases from France and Spain.