Heimtextil 2010: sector on an even keel despite the difficult

Over 2,500 exhibitors from 60 countries and an unparalleled level of internationality

Starting the year with creativity, target-group initiatives and ‘green’ themes

Following a turbulent year for the international textile sector, the Heimtextil trade fair is beginning 2010 with a high degree of optimism. The International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles, which opens its doors from 13 to 16 January 2010, traditionally marks the start of the trade-fair year in Frankfurt and presents the latest collections and trends for the bedroom, bathroom and table textiles, as well as fabrics for windows, walls, floors, furniture and decoration.
“The international textile sector has been severely battered by the economic storm”, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Manage¬ment of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, about the past year. “Thus, we are very pleased that Heimtextil has remained on an even keel despite this turbulent and difficult climate. With 2,521 exhibitors (2009: 2,556) from 60 countries, Heimtextil has confirmed its function as the world’s leading trade fair for the sector. Moreover, it has broken the 85 percent barrier in terms of the proportion of exhibitors from outside Germany. This is the highest level of inter¬nationality we have ever recorded at Heimtextil and higher than at any other event in Frankfurt.”

Unparalleled level of internationality in Frankfurt and the world
Despite the difficult economic climate for the textile sector in par¬ticu¬lar and the fair and exhibition business in general, Messe Frankfurt continues to lead the world as an organiser of trade fairs for the textile sector and was able to increase its market share once again in 2009. Today, the company successfully supports the global textile sector and its themes with 29 fairs in seven countries. However, it is not only the Messe Frankfurt portfolio of events for the textile sector that is highly international. Heimtextil in Frankfurt is, too. “This year, 2,140 exhibitors are coming from abroad and 381 from Germany. This level of internationality also reflects the high degree of globalisation in the textile industry”, explains Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textile Fairs of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH. After Germany, the Top Ten European exhibitor nations include Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal. Of the Asian nations, India, China, Pakistan, Taiwan and Hong Kong are particularly well represented.

Developments in the global textile market form the background against which Heimtextil is being held in Frankfurt. Important producer countries, such as Italy, Spain, Turkey, China and India, suffered considerable declines in sales and exports last year. Many Asian nations were badly hit by the collapse in demand in the wake of the crisis in the USA and Europe. Thanks, however, to official programmes of support, the economic situation there appeared to be improving slowly at the beginning of the year.

Consolidation in the German home-textile industry
The crisis also left its mark on the German home-textile industry. From 2008 to 2009 alone, the number of companies fell by almost five percent to 185 while the number of employees plummeted by a good seven percent to 18,640, which gave the negative trend of the last four years an additional push.

Also in decline last year were the export total-sales figures for the majority of segments in the home and household textile market. There were, nevertheless, a few glimpses of light on the horizon. Thus, according to the Association of the German Textile Retail Trade (Bundesverband des Textileinzelhandels – BTE), the sales levels predicted for home and household textiles were exceeded in most segments in 2009. In the case of down and feathers, as well as wallpaper and wall coverings, domestic business remained at least relatively good. And, in the sun-protection segment, the perspectives for 2010 are somewhat optimistic. The specialist trade is pinning its hopes for improvement on the German government’s economic stimulus package for the modernisation of public buildings. Additionally, this segment is also gaining in significance in connection with the current interest in saving energy.

Starting the year with creativity, target-group initiatives and ‘green’ themes
Creativity and innovative subjects and concepts are much in demand, especially in times of economic difficulty. At Heimtextil 2010, the top themes are energy efficiency and sustainability, as well as young design, branding, new ways of appealing to target groups and the contract business. “It is not only the figures that dominate the international home-textile sector and, therefore, Heimtextil 2010. Anyone who pays close attention can also profit from the unique thematic creativity generated by any crisis”, says Vice President Olaf Schmidt.
The entire innovative potential of the textile sector can be seen at Heimtextil 2010. Many companies are investing large amounts in future-oriented sectors. Energy efficiency, e.g., through modern sun-protection systems, is one of these topical subjects. Additionally, the fresh ideas of young designers are also an important aspect of the fair and generate a variety of valuable impulses. The most important place to go for information about the latest trends is the Trendforum where the trends for 2010/2011 are to be seen. The international Trendtable comprising experts from six design studios from six countries has prepared the Heimtextil trends on the basis of numerous tendencies and condensed them into four themes.

Making accurate contact with specific groups of customers and users is vital for both the trade and industry. And Heimtextil represents the ideal platform for this purpose. To this end, Messe Frankfurt is launching the Insider programme at Heimtextil 2010. Heimtextil Insider is an initiative of Messe Frankfurt in cooperation with partners from the trade and industry and is aimed especially at German interior decorators. For this target group, the services offered constitute a complete arrangement covering the spectrum from individual advice to concessions and a special Insider lounge. Additionally, Heimtextil has also targeted bed dealers in a special campaign. Another special campaign aimed at important customer groups is Contract Creations, which targets the contract business with a fascinating variety of lectures, guided tours and special presentations for architects, room planners, decorators and interior designers in Hall 3.1. In the case of household textiles in Hall 8, the focus of the contract business is on subjects of particular interest to hotel operators, purchasing managers and housekeepers.

A variety of other special shows, design areas, interesting workshops and important awards ceremonies also go to create the colourful and inspiring atmosphere at Heimtextil 2010.

Heimtextil goes City
The complementary programme is rounded off by Heimtextil goes City. This is the sixth time that Messe Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Interior Decorators’ Guild (Raumausstatterinnung Frankfurt) have staged this event, which takes the latest themes from the fair into the city centre. Over 30 interior decorators, bed dealers, book shops and galleries in Frankfurt will open their doors on Saturday, 16 January, and present textiles in all spheres of life and culture. Under the motto, ‘Style’, they will present the latest home trends, offer insights into materials, provide decoration tips and give consumers the chance to look behind the scenes of traditional handicrafts. Further information can be found on the internet at:
www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com and
www.raumausstatterinnung-frankfurt.de.

Background information on Messe Frankfurt
With annual revenues of € 424 million* and over 1,500 employees around the world, Messe Frankfurt is Germany's biggest fair and exhibition company. The corporate group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international sales partners, which represent Messe Frankfurt in over 150 countries of the world. Events 'made by Messe Frankfurt' are held at over 30 venues world¬wide. In 2009*, the Messe Frankfurt group organised over 90 fairs, more than half of them outside Germany.
At present, the Exhibition Centre can boast 578,000 square metres of ground space with ten exhibition halls and a congress centre. The company is publicly owned with 60 percent being held by the City of Frankfurt and 40 by the State of Hesse.
Further information: www.messefrankfurt.com
*Provisional figures for the 2009 business year.

Sandra Kreß
Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH
Press/PR/Internet
Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Telephone +49 69 75 75-57 11
Telefax +49 69 75 75-67 57
sandra.kress@messefrankfurt.com
www.messefrankfurt.com

This release was published on openPR.