Vicenzaoro has been held in Italy for more than 60 years and the 2023 edition began on 20 January and concluded on 24 January.
A media release stated that "Foreign attendance was close to 60% of the total, from 136 countries around the world", while the event hosted more than 1,300 exhibitors.
While the organiser claims this year’s event attracted 11.5 per cent more visitors compared with the fair in 2020, prior to the COVID pandemic, it did not release actual visitor numbers.
Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) director Marco Carniello told JCK Online the fair was the largest on record.
“It’s kind of unbelievable,” he said.
“I couldn’t expect such a result, especially after two to three years of COVID, of discontinuities, dramatic times for our industry, and now, 2023, the first edition of the new normality, and boom! It’s the biggest show ever.”
Foreign visitors accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the attendees. Attendance from Italian regions showed an increase of approximately 20 per cent in comparison with pre-pandemic years.
Carniello said that despite the success there was still room for further development.
“We managed to keep being relevant, we retained our community and guests throughout the COVID years and now we’re seeing the results of all this work. We have 7,000 to 8,000 new visitors this year that we acquired during COVID times. It’s wonderful," Carniello told WatchPro.
"I continuously need to adjust the formats of all my categories to ensure that the weight of every single segment is matching the real demand of my visitors. I see more potential in services, including machinery, equipment, and tools.”
He added: “Physical stores are providing more and more services to consumers, where consumers would otherwise go online. But, to provide services, they need to have a workshop with equipment and tools. This area goes together with the technology and is something that I’d like to make bigger or at least better."
It’s been a positive start to the year for international jewellery and watch trade shows. The success of Vicenzaoro comes after more than 20,000 visitors took part in India’s IIJS Signature.
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