Final report of interzum 2019

interzum, the world’s leading trade fair for furniture production and interior design, held in Cologne, drew to an end on Friday, 24 May 2019, with outstanding results. For four full days, interzum served as a source of inspiration for the design of future living spaces and presented the technical, haptic and visual refinements with which tomorrow’s furniture will set new standards. With 1,805 exhibitors from 60 countries (2017: 1,732 exhibitors from 59 countries), more companies than ever before showcased their innovations across an exhibition area covering approximately 190,000 square metres. In addition to increasing its exhibitor numbers, the trade fair considerably expanded its international reach. The proportion of foreign visitors rose to around 75 per cent (2017: 73 per cent). Out of a total audience of 74,000 visitors, over 55,000 came from outside Germany. “We significantly exceeded our goal of topping the 70,000-visitor mark,” said Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse, who is delighted with the results. “This has been an almost magical anniversary event in every respect and one that we will all remember. An industry demonstrated its immense capacity for innovation in truly impressive style,” he added.

With this year’s outstanding figures, interzum has continued its impressive success story. The number of trade visitors has risen by more than 28 per cent since 2015. The atmosphere in the trade fair halls was excellent: exhibitors and visitors from across the globe were very satisfied with the event. This was reflected in the highly positive verdict from the participating companies, who confirmed interzum’s leading position as the industry’s number one trade fair in the world. Alongside visitors from Germany, the most strongly represented European nations were Italy, France, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Significant increases were seen in visitors from Asia (+22 per cent), with particularly strong growth from China (+48 per cent), as well as increases from Central and South America (+24 per cent), Eastern Europe (+21 per cent) and North America (+7 per cent). The exhibitors reported that they did excellent business and established many new contacts from around the world. In its anniversary year, interzum mastered the balancing act of being an industry meeting place for trade visitors on the one hand and a hotspot for the creative professions on the other. A large number of inspiring presentations by companies contributed to this.

This year interzum demonstrated particularly impressively that it is not only a trade fair for the supplier industry, but also a 360-degree event that presents visions of how we will live in the future. By addressing this issue, it takes up a place alongside imm cologne/LivingKitchen and ORGATEC. In addition to familiarising themselves with the product ranges of suppliers to the furniture industry, manufacturers, architects and designers were able to discover a host of innovative materials and production processes. With a diverse range of special event areas, talk and discussion areas, piazzas and workshops on disruptive materials, surface design, digital printing, digital products and materials, smart systems, mobile living spaces and new technologies, interzum 2019 linked a broad spectrum of future issues and product innovations for tomorrow’s homes. The standout themes this year that will set the direction of future developments were the continuing rise of individualisation, energy efficiency and sustainability, light (LED), digitalisation (including voice control), micro living and “slide and hide”.

interzum 2019 hosted 1,805 exhibiting companies from 60 countries (2017: 1,732 companies from 59 countries). They included 356 domestic exhibitors (2017: 367 exhibitors) and 1,449 companies (2017: 1,361 companies) from outside Germany, with foreign companies accounting for 80 per cent (2017: 79 per cent) of total exhibitors. Including estimates for the last day of the fair, the event attracted 74,000 trade visitors from 152 countries (2017: 69,000 trade visitors from 152 countries).*

*The figures relating to visitors, exhibitors and exhibition space for this trade fair were determined and certified according to the standardized definitions used by the Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM).