A “spirited start” to 2008 at IMM
The IMM Cologne furniture fair, held on January 14-20, marked both “a powerful as well as spirited start to 2008" for the German furniture industry, according to Dirk-Uwe Klaas, chief executive Officer of the Association of the German Furniture Industries (VDM - Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie).
The show, which presented the latest international home furniture and furnishings trends from 1,251 exhibitors from 53 countries, attracted some 107,000 visitors from 130 countries, up from 105,984 from 128 countries last year. Increases were registered from the EU, in particular from the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France and Switzerland, and there was also a rise in the number of visitors from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa.
"We experienced a very good furniture fair. In relation to the internationality of its product range, Cologne is the top address on a worldwide scale and this was rewarded by a much higher visitor frequency. We significantly increased the number of visitors, especially from Europe, the number one export market for the German and European furniture industry," said Wolfgang Kranz, executive vice president of Koelnmesse.
