The new concepts of the Düsseldorf shoe fair duo GDS – International Event for Shoes & Accessories – and Global Shoes – leading trade show for sourcing – have been received very well by both trade and industry. Most exhibitors and visitors unanimously agree that the reorganised hall layout and rearrangement of exhibitor neighbourhoods has noticeably stimulated the trade fair business.
According to preliminary counts approx. 33,000 buyers visited the fair grounds 6,500 of them attended Global Shoes . This means both trade fairs closed almost on par with last year (September 2007: 33,500) thereby standing their ground despite the current, tight market situation.
Almost one in two visitors to GDS came from abroad (83 countries; the top 5 after Germany included the Benelux countries, Italy, Great Britain, France and Denmark). At Global Shoes the proportion of foreign visitors was even higher standing at 55% (59 countries, the top nations after Germany were the Benelux countries, Poland, Spain, Israel). The new total layout of the two fairs was received very well. Visitors of GDS especially liked the “urban authentic” and “urban spirit” areas in Hall 1, “design attack” as well as the comprehensive staging of trends. Visitors to Global Shoes rated the trade fair as a whole so positively on account of the de-synchronisation with GDS and the new hall layout.
Summarising the results of the exhibition Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, CEO and President of Messe Düsseldorf, said: “In the run-up to the trade fair we were very anxious to see how well the new concepts would go down with the market. At the end of the day the intense efforts undertaken over the past few months have more than paid off. The positive response across the board shows that GDS and