(Editor: Leona)

German trade fair duo imm cologne and LivingKitchen closed on Sunday, recording 146,000 visitors from 138 countries – among them 102,000 industry visitors, up from 99,000 in 2013.

“These figures prove that the international appeal of the two events in Cologne has grown even more and that the fair duo is, without a doubt, the most important platform for the domestic as well as the international market,” says Gerald Böse, president and CEO of organiser Koelnmesse. “This is a great indication for Cologne as a trade fair location and confirms the effectiveness of imm cologne and LivingKitchen as a marketing tool."

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, MD of the Federal Association of the German Furniture Industry, drew a similarly positive conclusion: “We already had very high expectations of the fair and even they were exceeded. We are happy about the increase in national and international industry visitors and are starting the 2015 furniture year very optimistically.”

Hans Strothoff, president of the Federal Association of German Furniture, Kitchens and Furnishing Retailers summarised the outcome for the trade sector: “The fair was marvellous and exceeded retailers’ expectations. imm cologne/LivingKitchen is the most important fair in the world for the trade.”

Of the 102,000 industry visitors, around 56,000 came from Germany and approximately 46,000 from abroad (an increase of 13%). In total, the percentage of trade visitors from abroad was 45%.

Within Europe, increases in visitor figures were recorded in particular from Spain (up 27%), the UK (up 20%), Italy (up 11%) and the Netherlands (up 13%). Visitor figures from France, Scandinavia and Poland also showed good growth and offset the politically-induced fall off in visitors from Russia. Significant increases could also be seen in industry visitor figures from China (up 32%) and the US (up 47%).

“The excellent levels of visitor attendance from abroad meant we were able to strengthen our exhibitors’ export businesses. Italian companies, for instance, did some very good business here in Cologne with German retailers as well as with those from abroad”, says Katharina C Hamma, COO of Koelnmesse. A reported 44,000 consumers took advantage of the open days to find out about the trends for the coming season.

The next imm cologne – togetehr with LivingInteriors – will be held from 18-24th January 2016.