Last year, a total of 745 exhibitors were on hand at the event, including 122 companies from abroad. Foreign participation is expected to be even more diverse in 2004, as show organizer IMM Carrara has conducted an international promotional campaign, including advertising as well as participation in exhibitions, conferences, workshops and meetings with trade associations all over the world. The promotion of the fair reaches, through a target mailing, over 46,000 operators all over the world, both by traditional media and by promotional mails and faxes.

Organizers also report that some of the most significant promotions have been at fairs in Saudi Arabia, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, China, England, Belgium, India and the U.S., and they have also held meetings in the Ukraine, Russia, Algeria, Bulgaira, Turkey, Jordan and Romania. The results of this campaign will be the arrival in Carrara of delegations from France, Turkey, Slovenia, Ukraine and Eastern European markets, which are regarded as an interesting target for the near future.

As usual, CarraraMarmotec will showcase blocks, slabs, finished products, artistic pieces and decorative items as well as stoneworking technology, setting materials and handling machinery.

“The schedule of the fair in 2004 is also rich in top-rank events, as our fair has always done- mixing cultural and scientific commitment with business and trade interests,” said Paris Mazzanti, general manager of IMM Carrara. One of the most interesting conferences will be the one on the restoration of the Trenta Monument by Jacopo della Quercia, in the church of San Frediano in nearby Lucca. This initiative was organized in conjunction with Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara. There will also be a technical seminar “Pietre che fanno architettura” (Stones that make architecture), when the winners of the Marble Architectural Awards 2004 present the works they have made in the Middle and Near East and in North Africa. Some of the biggest names of architecture will be there for the occasion to explain their philosophy and how they used dimensional stone in their works.

The fair will also offer the opportunity to present some specialty publications, such as “Stone Sector,” a book published by IMM about updated statistics on the worldwide stone markets, and a book published by UTET on the great works that have been made around the world by local companies or with local materials.

Another special initiatives is the second “Idea e Prodotto,” organized in cooperation with the Chambers of Commerce of Carrara and Lucca on a surface of 21,500 square feet, where trade associations, training schools and 22 of the most important companies in the sector will present artistic products such as sculptures, statues, decorative items, mosaics and designs, with students giving demonstrations of how to make mosaics and artistic pieces.

The fair site offers state-of-the-art facilities to its visitors and exhibitors, and this year, the site is completely restyled, and a new air conditioning unit has been installed in Hall B. Meanwhile, another cutting-edge covered hall is already being built -- for CarraraMarmotec 2005 -- for a total covered surface of nearly 325,000 square feet.

For more information on Carrara-Marmotec, visit www.carraramarmotec.com on the Internet.