A high degree of internationality and high-quality visitors were also the distinguishing features of this year’s Interzoo in Nürnberg, the world’s biggest exhibition for pet supplies. From 13-16 May 2010, 38,324 trade visitors (plus 3 per cent) from 115 countries sourced information about the products offered by the international pet industry. Altogether 1,502 companies (plus 4 per cent) from 53 countries presented their new products from the segments of pet food, grooming aids, pet accessories and services on a record gross display area of more than 90,000 square metres.
The products on display at Interzoo 2010 were more international than ever. Whereas 77 per cent of the exhibitors in 2008 came from abroad, 79 per cent foreign companies presented their products at Interzoo 2010. Besides Germany, the most exhibitors came from China, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, France, Belgium, Spain and Poland. As in 2008, 62 per cent of the visitors came from abroad.
Global growth in number of visitors
The countries with the largest shares of visitors were Germany with 14,475, Italy with 1,923, France with 1,360, the Netherlands with 1,203, the Czech Republic with 1,141 and Great Britain with 1,033. The attendance from Germany remained steady
(plus 1 per cent) and an encouraging 18 per cent more visitors came to this year’s Interzoo from non-EU countries in Europe.
There were many more visitors from South and Central America, from where 740 experts ” 21 per cent more than in 2008 ” travelled to Nürnberg, mainly from Brazil, Mexico and Columbia. 11 per cent more visitors came from Asia, with large increases from China, Thailand and Japan.
Exhibitors reached their targets
“This year’s exhibitors were extremely satisfied with the contact opportunities and the willingness of their business partners to make decisions and place orders,” reports Hans-Jochen Büngener, Chairman of the Interzoo Exhibition Committee. The results of the exhibitor survey confirm his assessment: Nine out of ten exhibitors rate their overall result of exhibiting at Interzoo 2010 positively.
Some 86 per cent of the exhibitors aimed to win new customers and 76 per cent wanted to cultivate contact with their customers and provide product information. Image care was the main priority for 74 per cent of the companies. Almost all the exhibiting companies reached their target group (95 per cent) and made new business connections (96 per cent). 93 per cent of the exhibitors expect follow-up business from the contacts made.
89 per cent of the exhibitors were satisfied to very satisfied with the exhibition organization and service. For 91 per cent of the companies, Interzoo is important to exceptionally important for their marketing and sales activities.
Top-calibre visitors
The most important criterion for exhibitor satisfaction is the quality of the visitors. “The national and international trade including the big names were also present at this Interzoo in Nürnberg and again emphasized Interzoo’s importance as the industry’s undisputed largest and most distinctive pet supplies exhibition,” comments Klaus Oechsner, President of the German Pet Trade & Industry Association (ZZF). According to the exhibitor survey, the exhibiting companies were all (95 per cent) satisfied with the quality of the visitors. The visitor survey showed that the largest groups of visitors at Interzoo 2010 included self-employed businessmen and proprietors (47 per cent), general managers (16 per cent) and department managers (14 per cent). Almost all visitors (96 per cent) are involved in procurement decisions in their company. More than three-quarters of the visitors were experts from the pet supplies trade, with another six per cent from grooming salons.
Visitors very satisfied
The exhibitors’ targets for the exhibition matched the expectations of the pet traders: 55 per cent of the visitors came to Interzoo to source information about new products, 41 per cent planned to cultivate business contacts, 36 per cent used Interzoo to prepare the ground for new business contacts, and 40 per cent wanted to obtain a general survey of the market.
As over half the exhibitors at Interzoo 2010 presented a new product and more than a third an improved product, virtually all visitors (97 per cent) were satisfied with the products on display at Interzoo 2010. The information and contact opportunities at the exhibition met the expectations of 97 per cent of the visitors.
The market players are cautiously optimistic in their assessment of the economic situation in the sector: 44 per cent of the exhibitors and 57 per cent of the visitors currently expect a slight to strong improvement in the economic situation in the pet industry. 33 per cent of the exhibitors and 27 per cent of the visitors tend to expect stagnation.
The pet experts are less restrained when it comes to their presence at Interzoo 2012: As in 2008, 73 per cent of this year’s visitors also said they will visit the next Interzoo in two years’ time. Directly after the exhibition, nine out of ten exhibitors had also firmly decided to exhibit again at Interzoo 2012.
The promoter of Interzoo is Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft Zoologischer Fachbetriebe GmbH (WZF), which has appointed NürnbergMesse GmbH for the organization of the exhibition.
The next Interzoo takes place in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from
17-20 May 2012.