Stone+tec 2007 took place from June 6 to 9 at Exhibition Centre Nürnberg in Nuremberg, Germany, and NürnbergMesse, the show’s organizer, reports successful results for the latest edition of the natural stone show. Held every other year, Stone+tec 2007 marked the 15th edition for the International Trade Fair Natural Stone and Stone Processing Technology Exhibition. The show provided an ideal arena for stone industry professionals to meet, exhibit their products and conduct business.
“That the natural stone industry is recovering again has been apparent since last year,” said Roland Kast, Exhibition Director of Stone+tec at NürnbergMesse. “The market remains a hard-fought market, however, the result of this process was still clearly noticeable on the part of the exhibitors. This makes us all the more pleased about the great influx of visitors on the four days of the exhibition.”
The number of exhibitors at Stone+tec 2007 remained relatively stable at 963, while the number of visitors totaled 41,084, a slight increase from the 40,282 that attended in 2005. “The mood at Stone+tec 2007 was better than it has been for a long time and noticeably marked by a great deal of action,” said Kast. “This is the best proof for us that the natural stone industry celebrates its grand festival in Central Europe here in Nürnberg every two years.”
Throughout the four-day event, attendees had the opportunity to view a broad selection of natural stone products for both interior and exterior applications. The exhibition halls featured many displays of tiles, slabs, decorative trim pieces and mosaics, which are available in a range of sizes and finishes. Additionally, numerous products for maintenance, preservation and restoration of natural stone were also on display. Stone+tec 2007 also offered visitors the opportunity to watch live demonstrations of large-scale stone-processing equipment as well as to take part in educational seminars.
In addition to Germany, European visitors primarily hailed from Austria, the “Benelux” countries, the Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Spain and Switzerland. There was also a representation from the Baltic States, Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine. Visitors from non-European countries came mostly from China, India, Israel, North America and the United Arab Emirates. The leading exhibiting nations, not including Germany, were China, Italy, Spain and Turkey, reported NürnbergMesse.
According to statistics released by the show organizer, two-thirds of this year’s visitors have already decided to visit Stone+tec in 2009, and half of them only visit Stone+tec and no other natural stone exhibition. A total of 96% of the visitors were satisfied with the products and services presented by the exhibitors, although about 20% of them would have liked to have seen a more extensive range of natural stone products.
Statistics also showed that 95% of the exhibitors rated the professional competence of the visitors as high, and over 90% reached their key target groups and made new business connections at the exhibition. Eight out of 10 companies expect follow-up business from these contacts, and almost 60% received direct orders during the event, stated NürnbergMesse, adding that 87% of the exhibitors were satisfied with the overall success of exhibiting at Stone+tec 2007.
Some highlights of this year’s event included a special presentation entitled “Natural Stone Architecture – Made in Germany.” This consisted of 13 German natural stone companies, which presented various aspects of the German natural stone industry. Ceremonies to present the German Natural Stone Award and the Peter Parler Award also were held during the exhibition.
The new event area in Hall 1 also was a main attraction at Stone+tec 2007. It was a popular meeting place at the heart of exhibition activities during the “Stone Craft Day” on Thursday and the “Architecture Day” on Friday, according to NürnbergMesse. It provided a direct physical and thematic link between the exhibition and supporting program.
With such a positive turnout at this year’s event, NürnbergMesse is already looking forward to planning the show’s next edition. Stone+tec 2009 is scheduled to take place at Exhibition Centre Nürnberg from May 20 to 23, 2009.