- Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar has confirmed that nearly a hundred buyers, specifiers and journalists from priority target markets will be visiting the fair, specifically to attend the meetings organized by ATEVAL – HOME TEXTILES FROM SPAIN supported by IVACE Internacional and ICEX.
Valencia, 6th September 2018.- Interest in Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar. Is growing apace in international markets. Spain’s unique 100% trade-only fair specializing in home textiles, upholstery and décor opens next Wednesday and has confirmed that a substantial group of international buyers and specifiers will be attending from as many as 33 different markets.
The group comprises almost a hundred professionals with considerable purchasing power, selected as part of an International Guest Buyer programme co-ordinated by trade association ATEVAL – Home Textiles from Spain and supported by IVACE Internacional and ICEX.
What the programme aims to do is identify those markets that offer the greatest potential for the sector to develop international sales in and the best returns for exhibitors at the fair. New countries from which buyers have been recruited this year for the first time include Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the USA. These join markets that had provided visitors last year, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
A quarter of all specifiers are from the Contract sector
In terms of profile, these buyers include distributors, manufacturers of upholstered furniture and purchasing managers at major companies as well as specifiers (architects, decorators and interior designers) interested in making business contacts in the contract sector. It is worth noting that a quarter of all the international professionals invited to the fair are from this sector.
They reflect the event’s highly ambitious commitment to boosting the industry’s international sales that, according to the latest statistics released by ICEX, hit 660.2 million euros in the first six months of this year. It is interesting to note that exports from the Comunidad Valenciana recorded a 5.9% increase over this same period, to 157.9 million euros.
It is not only the contract sector that has shown interest in Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar: leading international media have also reacted enthusiastically, with journalists from Italy, Kazakhstan, the Lebanon, Mexico, Portugal and Russia having confirmed they will be coming to Madrid next week as a result of the initiative co-ordinated by ATEVAL – Home Textiles from Spain.
“Driving the industry’s international development”
The aim, explains Leila Bachetarzi, director of ATEVAL’s International Development Department, is “to further develop overseas business for an industry that has always been export driven and for which events such as Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar provide a definite boost in the search for new markets.” To this end, “the trade mission we have put together with the support of IVACE Internacional and ICEX will enable exhibitors to take stock of and refresh their client portfolios by adding customers that have a strong interest in the quality, innovation, design and versatility of Spanish suppliers.”
Bachetarzi also underscores that the profile of the guest visitors is of “people who are highly professional and have significant purchasing power” adding that they encompass “both the retail channel and specialist specifiers from prestigious international companies that operate in demanding fields such as the contract sector.”
With this important visit definitely going ahead, Home Textiles Premium by Textilhogar is now all set to open the doors next Wednesday, 12th September, to what will be the biggest of the four editions of the fair held so far. The showcase is 36% bigger than last time round, with 84 exhibitors featuring 237 companies and brands. The fair also includes a new area dedicated to the contract sector and titled ‘El Cubo, Business Contract Zone’, which will be featuring Spain’s foremost textile manufacturers and a full programme of talks centred on this particular sector.
The fair runs from 12th to 14th September and is taking place for the second year running in the novel setting of Caja Mágica de Madrid. It has become a ‘must attend’ event for all professionals in the industry – manufacturers of upholstered furniture, decorators and interior designers – who come to see not just the most extensive range of products Spain has to offer and the country’s leading manufacturers, but also what will be the trend-setting the fabrics, textures and colours next season.
