Quality and innovation in the spotlight at Cersaie 2019

More than 112,000 visitors, including 53,000 non-Italians, packed out the Bologna exhibition centre for the 37th Cersaie. The number of exhibitors increased this year to 889, including 342 foreign companies.

The 37th Cersaie maintained its formula for success and reaffirmed its leadership position among international ceramics trade fairs. Above all, the show’s success is based on the continuous improvements in quality of both the new products and projects on display and of the exhibition concepts chosen by the companies taking part.

This year’s event saw a big increase in number of exhibitors to 889 (49 more than in 2018), including 342 non-Italian companies (18 more than in 2018) from 40 different countries. Ceramic tile was once again the best represented sector with 458 exhibitors, followed by bathroom furnishings with 214 (30 more than in 2018), a figure that confirmed the importance of this segment at the show.

The show was attended by 112,340 visitors (0.2% more than in 2018). The number of Italian professionals increased (59,343, +2.2%), while the number of international buyers dropped to 52,997 (-1.9%) due to the difficult situation in international markets. These included around a hundred leading architecture firms from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, the Baltic Republics, Scandinavia and the Gulf states who were invited by Cersaie Business in collaboration with the Emilia Romagna regional government and the Italian Trade Agency ITA.

The show’s global appeal was underscored by the architecture conferences given a series of prominent international speakers, including Felipe Assadi, Dominique Jakob & Brendan MacFarlane, Anupama Kundoo, Alberto Ferlenga and Giovanni Chiaramonte, Attilio Schiocchi and Emilio Ambaz, and Francesca Molteni.  Around 2,500 people attended the five conferences in the ‘building dwelling thinking’ cultural programme.

Amongst the ancillary events, the Famous Bathroom exhibition inaugurated by Philippe Daverio and inspired by the bathrooms of 32 famous historical personalities achieved good results with 10,000 visitors. Similarly positive results were registered by the first edition of Archincont(r)act, the new area in Hall 29 where 10 internationally renowned architecture firms presented their projects.

As usual, Tiling Town attracted strong interest amongst visitors with a series of technical seminars and installation showcases focusing on large slabs and bathrooms.

Young people took centre stage in the initiative Cersaie for Students, which this year saw the participation of 3,600 high school and university students in a series of meetings on artificial intelligence and job building, as well as the lesson in reverse given by film director Francesca Molteni.

The partnership with Bologna Design Week, now in its fifth year, offered a packed programme of evening events in the city of Bologna which will see further development over the next few years.

During the international press conference, the Confindustria Ceramica Distributor Awards were presented to four distributors from Italy, France, Germany and Scandinavia who excelled in their dealings with the Italian ceramic industry. The winners were Sardares (Arzachena, Italy), Torchio (Hambye, France), Nerlich & Lesser KG (Deggendorf, Germany) and Kakelspecialisten i Stockholm AB (Stockholm, Sweden). Organised in partnership with the US Ceramic Tile Distributors Association CTDA, awards were presented for the first time to three emerging importers in the USA, namely George Braica (Quality Wood Floors, Arizona), Eric Glocer (PCC Tile, Florida) and Justin Sheppard (MLL Distributors, Louisiana).