Attendance at Cersaie 2014 close to 101,000 over five days

Attendance at Cersaie 2014, the international exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings held in Bologna from 22 to 26 September, once again topped 100,000 visits, with increases in numbers of both unique visitors and international attendees. The commercial side of the event was complemented by initiatives catering for the world of architecture, interior design, installation and end consumers.

Representativeness and international appeal are the key characteristics of Cersaie, which for the first time opened its doors to exhibitors of wood, marble and natural stone. The 2014 show hosted 945 exhibitors (45 more than in 2013), including 339 non-Italian companies (+37) from 38 countries. It also attracted total attendance of 100,985 visitors (+0.2%), including 46,599 international visitors (46.14% of the total). The figure for ‘first admissions' (a measure of unique visitors) also rose to 66,096, 3.6% more than last year. Numbers of international visitors increased even more sharply (+4.1%) to 23,363. The media were also well represented with 578 journalists in attendance (+3.39%), two fifths of whom came from outside Italy (235 journalists).     

These figures confirm Cersaie's position as a key venue for developing global business in the ceramic floor and wall tile and bathroom furnishing sectors, while the more than 150 countries of origin of the visitors underscore the show's powerful role as an engine for international trade.

Cersaie is a vital appointment for architects, interior designers, tile fixers and the general public. This year Toyo Ito became the sixth consecutive Pritzker prize winner to give Cersaie's keynote lecture in front of an audience of more than 1,100 people. There was also strong interest in all the events in the "building dwelling thinking" cultural programme, which for the first time granted training credits for participating architects.

Also popular were the various works in progress and meetings held at Tiling Town, the location for training young tile setters and presenting installation techniques. The initiative "Cersaie Designs your Home" proved a big success with consumers, many of whom came equipped with plans for their home renovation projects. On Thursday and Friday the event saw the participation of special guest Paola Marella. Another very popular event was Cer-Sea, the exhibition exploring ways of exploiting seaside resorts at all times of day and throughout the year so as to improve their capacity to generate revenues and attract tourists.

Bologna Water Design also hosted strongly attended events in the Ospedale ex Bastardini in Via d'Azeglio.