Traffic down 3.4% at Furniture China show

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, November 26, 2012

SHANGHAI, China - Attendance was down a bit at September's Furniture China show here, show organizers have reported.
     Total traffic at the Sept. 11- 15 event was off 3.4% from the 2011 show and there was a 12.8% decline in international visitors, according to the report.
     Held in about 7.6 million square feet at the Shanghai New International Expo Center and the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, the event featured 3,000 exhibitors, up from 2,600 last year. This included increases across all show segments, including the main residential furniture show, a woodworking machinery and raw materials segment and the China National Furniture Expo at the JSWB (Jisheng Wellborn Furniture Group) complex in Shanghai.
     The five-day event also featured the 2012 World Furniture Summit held Sept. 11 at the Shanghai Pudong Kerry Hotel. This event was attended by 427 industry representatives from 200 enterprises and 40 media members, organizers said. Among the keynote speakers at the event was Todd Wanek, president and CEO of Ashley Furniture Inds.
     "As one of the top furniture industry summits in China, it not only maintained a professional approach towards sharing and collaboration, but also engendered an open field of vision and profound thought," the report said.
     Still, apparent weakness in the global economy affected the show as attendance dropped to 71,980, from 74,564 last year. International attendance totaled 19,693 visitors from 140 countries, compared with 22,592 from 155 countries last year.
     While the U.S. had the second highest number of attendees behind Australia this year, visitorship from the U.S. and Canada dropped 18%, to 2,085 from 2,555 in 2011, with about 1,500 of this year's buyers from the U.S.
     In addition to the World Furniture Summit, this year's event also featured the 2012 Sleep Industry Conference and the 14th China Furniture Industry Design Competition.
     Next year's event is set for Sept. 11-15. For more information on the show, visit, www. furnitureinchina.com.