Texcare International closes with a new record

Jun 27, 2016

Trade visitors very pleased with the bigger and more extensive range of products at the world’s leading trade fair for the sector

Exhibitors and visitors rate the economic situation in the sector as very good

Texcare International has closed its doors after welcoming ten percent more international visitors. Overall, the number of trade visitors remained stable – of the 15,700 visitors (2012: 15,650 from 101 countries*), almost 9,000 (2012: 8,045) came from outside Germany to the world’s leading trade fair for the sector in Frankfurt am Main from 11 to 15 June 2016, which means that international visitors account for 57 percent of the total. The visitors travelled to Texcare International from 112 countries, to discover the latest products and innovations at the exhibition stands. After Germany, the top visitor nations included Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria and Poland. Outside Europe, the USA, Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, China and India ranked among the biggest visitor nations at the textile-care fair. Overall, the proportion of international visitors from outside Europe rose from 15 to 22 percent with the largest non-European growth coming from Argentina and Kazakhstan. In Germany, the market continues to be characterised by an on-going process of consolidation and concentration.

For five days, 319 exhibitors from 28 countries (2012: 262 exhibitors from 26 countries) – over 20 percent more than four years ago – presented their high-tech solutions and innovations for laundries, dry cleaners and textile service providers. The proportion of international exhibitors also reached a new record at 68 percent. On 30 percent more exhibition space and in two halls for the first time, the manufacturers presented a more extensive range of products and services, especially in the textiles and IT product groups. The focal point of the exhibitors’ presentations was on networking all processes in accordance with Industry 4.0. Impulses for the sustainable conversion to ‘smart laundries’ were generated by innovations for contactless laundry registration, for visualising all processes in real-time, for intelligent storage systems and for the use of robot technology.

Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Messe Frankfurt, says, “The atmosphere at Texcare International 2016 was outstanding and international growth reinforced the position of the event as the world’s leading trade fair for the sector. Top decision-makers from all over the world travelled to Frankfurt am Main to do business at the fair and gain new customers.” The level of visitor decision-making authority also rose again: over 60 percent of visitors said they were authorised to make purchases on behalf of their companies.

84 percent of exhibitors confirmed that they had achieved their goals for the fair, especially in terms of sales agreements signed, order books filled and numerous new international contacts made. Elgar Straub, Director General of VDMA Garment and Leather Technology, says, “Texcare International exceeded the expectations of its exhibitors by a wide margin. The high level of visitor internationality shows the great worldwide interest and demand for new, future-oriented technologies, as reflected by subjects such as Industry 4.0 and the on-going process of digitalisation on which the fair focused.”

89 percent of exhibitors said that the economic situation in the sector is very good, an increase of three percent over the last Texcare International four years ago. 89 percent of visitors also agreed with this assessment.

98 percent of visitors said they were very pleased with the range of products and services at Texcare International. Andreas Schumacher, Managing Director of the German Dry Cleaning Association (Deutscher Textilreinigungsverband – DTV), says, “We are delighted with the course of business at the fair. The echo from exhibitors and visitors has been excellent. Very popular was the opportunity to exchange information and opinions about subjects of topical importance to the sector at Texcare Forum in addition to visiting the exhibition stands. The DTV stand itself was also a welcome meeting place for holding discussions with our members and sponsors. We were particularly pleased with the highly positive response of visitors to our programme of events, which included a fashion show and ironing competition.”

At the fair, trade visitors from all over the world were able to discern the latest trends in the sector and gain an excellent impression of the high-grade products offered by the manufacturers. The events held within the framework of Texcare International also proved to be very popular, especially the lectures at the Texcare Forum, which were attended by over 1,000 participants. The division into themed days – education and careers, innovative textiles, sustainability and Industry 4.0 – was also very well received.

A highlight at Texcare International was the fashion show where manufacturers presented their collections and showed the latest trends in terms of colour, design and function for industrial, healthcare and catering workwear. The first ironing competition to be held at Texcare gave participants the chance to match themselves against others and to demonstrate their skills.

The next Texcare International will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 20 to 24 June 2020; the next Texcare Asia in the autumn of 2017.

You will find further information about Texcare International at www.texcare.com