The number of visitors and visits to the Horti Fair grew this year. Both exhibitors and visitors appreciated the new course taken by the Horti Fair. The Horti Fair is really back in business says its director, Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘This goes not only for the number of visitors but also for the return of the “wow factor” at this year’s Horti Fair.’
The Horti Fair is the biggest international trade fair for technology, innovation and inspiration in horticulture and took place in the Amsterdam RAI recently. Because last year’s trade fair contended with a drop in the number of visitors and fewer exhibitors, its organisers decided on a new course: ‘from square metres to cubic metres’. The result this year was an emphasis on more content, more expertise, more opportunities for networking, and more spectacle.
To begin with, the new course of action resulted in more exhibitors: 599 (an increase of 10%). The number of visitors also went up. This was indicated by the Horti Fair’s new online visitor registration system: visitors could register in advance at the website. This made it possible to obtain a highly accurate and transparent count, according to Horti Fair’s director, Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘Included in our new approach’, he said, ‘is an even more accurate registration and transparent communication.’
Attracted to this year’s Horti Fair were 23,240 unique visitors who came from 67 countries. And they made an estimated 27,750 visits to the trade fair: an increase of approximately 20%. Of these visitors, 16,240 entered by means of a Horti Fair scan, 3,750 came from Aalsmeer, 1,500 from Vijfhuizen, 750 from the Aquatech (a trade fair running simultaneously in the Amsterdam RAI) and 1,000 were part of a group such as a delegation, a group of journalists, or a group of secondary school students. The number of people registering in advance amounted to 24,244.
The ultimate in international trade fairs for horticulture A number of awards were presented during the Horti Fair. Among them were the Interpolis Quality Cup for the best products generated by the floricultural sector. In the category devoted to cut flowers, first prize went to Royal van Zanten. Sion BV walked off with the top award for pot plants. The Marketing Cup – the award for the exhibitor who attracted the most visitors to the trade fair – went to Hortiplan.
Corn. Bak won the Innovation Award in the ‘Green’ category with its Florinilla® ‘Bella’[p]. Mardenkro won both the Innovation Award in the ‘Technique’ category and the Press Award for its coating product, ReduFuse. Mardenkro’s Managing Director, Jort Gerritsen, thus had two reasons to be a satisfied exhibitor. ‘Winning these prizes led to countless contacts with interested growers, distributors, members of the press and others. For us, the Horti Fair 2011 has been a very rewarding trade fair.’
Other exhibitors were extremely satisfied as well. ‘We’re headed in the right direction now’, said Wouter Kuiper, Managing Director at Kubo, ‘And if we stay on this path, Horti Fair will once again be the ultimate in international trade fairs for horticulture.’ ‘The positive vibes are back at the Horti Fair’, said Mattijs Bodegom, Manager of Marketing & Communications at breeding company Fides. ‘We took not one but four steps forward.’
Visitors, too, had high praise for the trade fair. ‘This afternoon, Rob Baan of Koppert Cress congratulated me on the trade fair with the words “Congratulations, you and your team have put Horti Fair back on the map”,’ said Horti Fair Director Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘This is just one of the examples of this praise, and it’s simply wonderful to hear.’
Source: Hortifair
