Exhibitors and visitors from all over the world， four days of business， the latest trends and lifestyle， as well as countless opportunities to take orders ... this is the promise of DOMOTEX – The World of Flooring– that marks the start of the trade’s business year. For a few days Hannover will serve as an international centre for the flooring sector and offer an ideal place for networking and getting business leads. In 2021， the exhibition will be postponed to May 18-20 in Hannover， Germany.
　　DOMOTEX 2020： Sustainability， high-class Attendance， Internationalism
　　DOMOTEX 2020， the world’s leading showcase for carpets and floor coverings，again stood out as the industry’s biggest， most pivotal hub for trends and innovations. A total of 35，000 attendees – 70% of them from abroad – were on hand for the four-day event to explore the latest trends， products and solutions presented by over 1，400 exhibitors from more than 60 different nations.
　　"DOMOTEX is and remains our most international tradeshow. We are delighted that the event attracts attendees from around the globe， who come for 2.3 days on average – 60% from Europe， 25% from Asia and 10% from the Americas， with the remainder from Africa and Australia，" said Dr. Andreas Gruchow， the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member in charge of DOMOTEX.
　　Impressive visitor mix featured high in quality and internationality. Exhibitors affirmed the success of their industry’s flagship fair with regard to two key performance indicators： "Our main concern here is not high attendance figures， but rather the right kind of attendees，" explained Hakan Dinc， CEO of Stefany Hali Tekstil in Turkey. This aspect was also clearly appreciated by visitors： "I made the decision to come to Hannover because this is where I can see what is happening across the global marketplace， which enables me to make the right choices for our customers，" remarked trends scout Andrés Jobet of Piso Urbano Alfombras， based in Santiago， Chile.
　　Based on this year’s visitor survey， almost half of all attendees （44%） used the event to generate new leads. Fred T. Keller， Marketing Director of Theo Keller GmbH in Bochum， Germany， reported a high number of walk-in visitors and new customers. He attributed this mainly to ongoing enhancements to the event， particularly the new hall layout launched in 2020， which he saw as a major step forward. "This new design has resulted in many more spontaneous customer contacts than previously， and we couldn’t be more delighted. DOMOTEX is definitely the most important trade fair for us." 　　The show’s lead theme "ATMYSPHERE" was also well received by exhibitors. For example， Bernhard Reinkemeier， CEO of Reinkemeier Rietberg based in Rietberg， Germany， referred to it as being a "good match" for his company’s objectives， adding： "We very much welcome the lead theme and its flanking measures， all of which are highly attractive and have helped us reach our goals."
　　"The lead theme perfectly reflected the spirit of the times， and its significance was clear to see throughout the halls. We are already busy exploring ways of featuring sustainability to even greater advantage at DOMOTEX 2021，" remarked Wedell-Castellano. "I also very much look forward to teaming up with the show’s players from the business community and the skilled trades so as to generate even more benefit for the industry and its clientele next year."


　　DOMOTEX 2021 postponed from January to May
　　Although two thirds of the exhibition space – about 62，000 square meters – had already been booked and a comprehensive hygiene concept had been developed to comply with COVID-19 safety regulations， Deutsche Messe AG has decided to postpone the next edition of DOMOTEX to 18 – 20 May 2021. The show was originally scheduled to take place from 15 – 18 January 2021. The reasons for the postponement are based on the latest developments regarding the worldwide rampant COVID-19 pandemic and on the fact that， in view of these developments， clients， exhibitors and visitors have asked for DOMOTEX to be held at a later date. DOMOTEX is now planning a digital conference to take place on 15 January 2021， the show’s original start date.
　　The DOMOTEX team is also working on a digital conference， which will take place on 15 January 2021， which would originally have been the first day of the trade show. The keynote theme of "Cover New Ground！" is intended to encourage the industry to discuss what the"new normal in times of COVID-19" will signify for carpets and floor coverings and， regarding the design and application of flooring， to provide inspiration to think beyond existing strategies， visions and experiences and to look towards the future. More information will follow in due course.