reflected better business perspectives than expected

Heimtextil 2009 generated new impulses and motivated the home and contract textiles sector. After coming to Frankfurt under the shadow of the worldwide economic downturn and a sense of crisis, numerous exhibitors found their expectations of the fair to have been exceeded by a significant margin.

Visitors praised the quality of the innovations and marketing incentives offered by exhibitors for the coming season. “The Heimtextil has succeeded in showing exhibitors and visitors a way out of the uncertain business situation through new design impulses, innovative entrepreneurial ideas based on the sustainability principle and modern sales opportunities”, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. “The number and quality of the visitors at the fair exceeded exhibitors’ expectations to a considerable extent.”

The good atmosphere at the fair gave many Heimtextil exhibitors grounds for optimism. On behalf of the German hometextile industry, association director Hans Joachim Schilgen said, “With its experience of economic crises, our sector will also gain new impetus from this trough. The level of satisfaction expressed by members of our association with the contacts made and the orders taken has re-established our confidence in the market and indicated ways of returning to a normal business life.” Nevertheless, the positive assessments of the course of business at the fair cannot conceal the fact that the number of participants in the market is declining. More textile factories have closed in Germany.

The number of companies sank by 5% to 195 with 20,100 employees (-700). Outside Germany, too, the textile industry is fighting to hold its own. In France, for example, state aid for short-time working as a result of the economic downtown was extended at the beginning of the year, especially for the textile industry.

World textile-export champion, China, is currently experiencing a wave of insolvencies and, in conjunction with a programme of tax benefits, has shifted its activities towards satisfying domestic de-mand. According to the new President of EURATEX, Dr. Peter Pfneisl, Europe has the potential to survive the storm on the basis of its high-grade design, ultra-modern technology and top quality production. However, the number of orders received by Europe’s creative, export-oriented textile industry has been in decline since the second quarter of 2008, resulting in a minus of at least seven percent for the whole business year.

Therefore, the economic expectations of exhibitors and visitors from the trade and industry have also fallen especially on the part of those from outside Germany. The proportion anticipating a worsening of the economic situation has doubled in comparison to last year and now accounts for almost 50% of the foreign exhibitors and visitors polled. In Germany, only about 25% currently take such as pessimistic view.

Against this background, it is hardly surprising that Heimtextil 2009 attracted fewer visitors than in 2008 – 74,000 from 121 countries according to estimates on the last day of the fair. From Germany, however, there were significantly more visitors than were to be expected given the general economic situation.

With 27,000 trade visitors, Germany remains, as on the exhibitor side (440 companies), the best represented nation. The degree of internationality fell one percentage point to 63%. The fall in the number of visitors from outside Germany is explained by worsening visitor expectations and the gloomy economic situation. Thus, visitors from afar came in much smaller delegations and spent an average of 2 days at the fair instead of 2.4 as in the past.

Nations particularly affected by the financial crisis, such as the USA and China, and other economies tied to the dollar, e.g., India and South Korea, were characterised by significant declines in visitor numbers. Fewer visitors also came from those European countries, such as Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, which suffered the greatest drop in exports in 2008.

The top ten visitor nations after Germany are: Italy, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, Greece and the USA. Against the trend, some African countries, such as Egypt and Algeria, registered an increase in visitor numbers, albeit a very small one. Messe Frankfurt manager Braun considers his prognosis made before the fair to have been confirmed: “Given the economic situation, this year will not be a year of records for trade fairs.

Nevertheless, we share the delight of those exhibitors who were successful over the last few days. This shows once again that the fair is what we make of it. And it is evident that the sector is committed to the Heimtextil, the world’s leading trade fair for home and contract textiles.”

Positive signals from the fair in  difficult times: high level of exhibitor and
visitor satisfaction with the fair

Despite the difficult economic background, both exhibitors and visitors got their money’s worth at the Heimtextil. The level of satisfaction with the results of the fair was particularly high in the wallpaper, wall coverings, bed linen and bedding sections, as well as among exhibitors in the Asian Vision premium segment and suppliers of contract textiles.

Exhibitors were especially pleased with the large number of visitors, many of them with decision-making authority. Apart from the trade, the handicrafts sector, interior decorators, interior designers and the industry, which are normally well represented at the fair, this year’s Heimtextil was attended by more contract-furnishing specialists from the architecture, hotel and hospital fields.The wide range of products and themes covered at Heimtextil 2009 was also well received on the visitor side with 91% of visitors from home and abroad saying they were highly satisfied with the results of the fair.

New orientation through sustainability and innovations

The echo during the fair confirmed the prognoses of Heimtextil 2008 and 2009 exhibitors who were polled shortly before. Asked about the factors that are likely to have a positive impact on their sales in 2009, they mentioned new furnishing trends and faster cycles of consumption, as well as sustainability, as criteria for purchasing decisions.

Fully in line with these important factors, the Heimtextil was distinguished by two international lecture and presentation areas focusing on innovations and their links to the design-oriented world of contract furnishing and the demands expected to be placed on the trade and industry by consumers and architects.

The echo was overwhelming. Particular interest was shown by Heimtextil visitors in the values and methods of sustainable economic activity. “From numerous discus-sions with representatives of both trade and industry, I heard how important a reorientation along these lines is considered to be.

Quality assurance and transparency for sustainable procedures in production and along the supply chain represent a specific and important first step. And, as the biggest ‘showcase’ for the home-textile market, the Heimtextil deserves praise for focusing on this complex subject, which is so important for the further development of our sector”, said Niels Hother Madsen, speaker at the ‘Eco Luxury, Green Business and Innovation’ programme of lectures and Divisional Manager for Administrative Purchasing, Logistics and Social Compliance at Dänisches Bettenlager.

The speakers on ‘Design meets Sustainability’ included experts such as Professor Michael Braungart (‘cradle to cradle’). Reinhard Back-hausen presented the world’s first collection of decorative fabrics developed in accordance with ‘cradle to cradle’ principles on the basis of Trevira CS fabrics for use in the home and contract sectors.

These criteria have also been taken up in the household-textiles sector. Austria’s Framsohn Frottier showed the world’s first ‘low-energy towel’, which is made using 30 percent less chemicals and requires no softeners. The result is a towel that is ecological in both production and usage because it helps save water and detergent.

Contract textiles have their market place at the Heimtextil

Over 350 exhibitors from all segments of the home and contract textiles sector took part in the ‘Contract Creations’ marketing campaign of the Heimtextil and made it easier for visitors from the fields of architecture, interior design and planning to discover the new worlds of textile materials. Janine Tsias, interior architect and colour designer, Faust Consult, Wiesbaden: “I am responsible for furnishing large hospitals in the Middle East. And they spend much more money on interior decoration than we in Germany do. At the Heimtextil, I can find the decorative fabrics I am looking for. In this connection, the Contract Guide and the AIT tour for architects are a great help.”

The sector was also very enthusiastic about the Heimtextil Trend with its six trend forecasts offering visions for design in the coming season under the heading ‘Expect the Unexpected’. It was also full of praise for the inspiring interpretation in the Trend Forum, as well as for the Trend Book, which this year took the form of a magazine with working materials. This year, more visitors were registered at the Trend Forum than ever before – a great success for the members of the Trend Table, which this year worked under the auspices of ‘Sti-jlinstituut Amsterdam’.

The Heimtextil goes City campaign gave consumers in downtown Frankfurt the unique opportunity to see and purchase the latest trade-fair trends. Altogether, 30 interior decorators, specialist bed and bed-ding shops, workshops, book dealers and the ‘Palmengarden’ gardens opened their doors to give consumers a first insight into the tex-tile trends of the Heimtextil and the world of natural fibres.

A total of 2,721 exhibitors from 64 countries took part in this year’s Heimtextil, which means it is the world’s biggest trade fair for home and contract textiles.