Centered mostly in pavilion #6 (there were 14 pavilions overall) the tableware sector was impressive with both global leaders (Steelite, Arc International, RAK, Pasabahce, Sambonet/Rosenthal) and smaller, niche players (AGA Design, ANCAP, Bisetti) vying for attendee attention. A number of well known tabletop brands (Dudson, Lenox, Figgjo) exhibited with their local Italian agent. You can view many of the interesting tabletop companies and products that we found on our Instagram feed. We’ll keep posting more images over the next several days.
Makeup of attendees in the aisles of the tabletop exhibitors seemed to us to be more dealer, cruise ship purchasing/f&b, designers and hotel specifier personnel, all very international in their origin.
And, with over 135,000 projected visitors, the Host Milano show seems intent on becoming the world stage for hospitality every two years – and they are well on their way to that objective, in our opinion. 
According to the Host Milano show office, growth in international exhibitors is especially strong was strong, “The leading food service manufacturing countries are widely represented and are all experiencing double-digit increases. Besides Italy, Germany (+24%), France (+29%), a great comeback for Spain (+27%); while the increase in companies from the U.S. is even more significant (+26%), also thanks to the acknowledgment of HostMilano by the US Commercial Service within a select group of international trade fairs where the U.S. participates with an official representation. High growth rates also for Switzerland (+37.5%), the Netherlands (+25%), the United Kingdom (+25%), with peaks of as much as +62.5% for Austria and +71.5% for Portugal.”
Host Milano makes strong efforts to bring buyers together with exhibitors, including arranging for travel and hotels for buyers and then making sure those buyers see at least 6 target exhibitors each day. Exhibitors can request meetings with specific attending buyers and then those meetings get confirmed. We attended a cocktail reception with over 400 hospitality purchasers from countries like China, the United States, and more. Buyers were brought in to insure a successful audience for exhibitors of all types.
It was easy to see the focus that show management did on both international attendees and exhibitors. From the hotels who were quite prepared for the influx of international visitors (having EXPO 2015 in town certainly helped in this preparation) to the various reception areas within the Host Milano exhibit halls, it was evident that much was being done to provide the international visitor whatever help that was required.
On a personal note, we are especially grateful for the very hospitality that our hosts showed and how easy they made it as a first time attendee. The energy and attention devoted specifically to hospitality was great to see and, of course, we always have a bias towards tabletop. Without a doubt….at Host Milano there is little doubt that #TabletopMatters! We are looking froward to 2017.
Now….on to New York and HX: The Hotel Experience.
