Vicenza, 13/09/06 - Orogemma 2006 closes with a 7.4% increase in foreign operators, with national operators holding their ground, and with a bottom line of over 17,000 professional visitors. The increases from Central-Eastern Europe, Russia, Belgium and France, Greece and Spain were significant. The Far East also did well with China, Hong Kong and Japan while India and Saudi Arabia recorded growth too. Of particular interest was the upturn in buyers from the USA, historically not present to any great extent at the September outing. As far as Italian operators are concerned, also worthy of note in a context of 9750 presences were the 764 selected sales outlets from the entire peninsula coordinated by Federdettaglianti and Vicenza Fair.
"I would call it a positive edition," commented Vicenza Fair President, Valentino Ziche, "which did have the great novelty of B-One but was also able to shine with its own light because of the quality of the overall offer of merchandise and given the rich calendar of appointments in the program." "B-One unquestionably had a positive effect on the show," explained Secretary General Corrado Facco, "especially as far as the presence of many foreign buyers was concerned. We are satisfied too with the positive impact on exhibitors and operators of our project for the implementation and growth of the Fair in structural, marketing and communications terms." As far as business trends were concerned during the five days of the show, the views of some of the 1582 Orogemma exhibitors are given below:
Laura Bicego (Nanis): "We recorded an excellent Italian presence but few from the euro area. Contacts with Poland, Israel, Russia and the Far East in general were good. As well as customers already acquired we had contacts with South America. Overall I'd say that the volume of purchases was up. Our location inside B-One allowed us to access top clients."
Massimiliano Mazza, (Palmiero Jewellery Design): "The feedback from the market was good: new customers arrived along with consolidated ones. We have little to say about the Italian market as we essentially projected ourselves towards the foreign ones. In short I would say: consolidation of the Eastern European Countries, strong growth in Spain, and the Arab countries down."
Valentina Bicego (Marco Bicego). "Trends more than satisfactory for one of the best editions of Orogemma in recent years." Contacts with Italian customers were up. As far as Europe was concerned: good in Belgium, Spain and England (a nation we have invested in a lot in recent times). Stable the volume of business with Eastern Europe where there were interesting openings however. A positive factor was the feedback in loyalty terms from end-customers to consolidated brands such as ours in the high-end sector."
Marco Valente (Valente Milan): "Compared with the Italian market in which the top bracket demands a more classic product, we work more abroad where there were increases in Europe as far as Spain, Belgium and Greece were concerned and a slight recovery in the German market. It is interesting to note how the Eastern European market has arrived at a more mature and organized stage and how Israel is revealing further capacity for growth compared with the past."