The second edition of the International HortiCongress will be taking place this year: on the first day of the fair (which is 30 October) just like last year. During the HortiCongress international experts set out their visions of how horticulture offers solutions for global challenges. The theme, the speakers and the programme for the HortiCongress will be announced in due course.

HortiSeminars will again be taking place during this year’s Horti Fair. These seminars are a series of small-scale gatherings that address a single theme and can be attended free of charge by visitors to the Horti Fair. Please contact the Horti Fair if you are interested in being the co-organizer of a seminar.

One of the spectacular showpieces of last year’s event was the Flower Catwalk in the floriculture hall. It will naturally be returning in 2012. Other high profile events include the opening of the Horti Fair on the first day of the show, the presentation of the Innovation Award and the Press Award (both for the best innovation) and the Marketing Cup for the company that recruits most visitors on a relative basis.

Vostermans Ventilation has had a stand at the Horti Fair for many years. Why?

“The Horti Fair is a good platform for showing innovations. It gets a lot of press and that generates plenty of exposure for an innovation. There is a broadly-based international public as well. The Horti Fair is also the place where we meet our regular customers and business associates.”

How was your Horti Fair 2011?

“I really enjoyed the spacious new layout of the halls. And my colleagues were also very enthusiastic about the HortiSeminars. Another thing I very much welcome is that the Horti Fair is embracing the digital era, like the digital visitor generation. Greenhouse horticulture is extremely innovative in technical terms, so you expect a trade fair to be the same. What is more, I am pleased that the Horti Fair is countering the fragmentation of the trade show landscape. The fact is that fragmentation like this is not good for the international image of the Netherlands as a horticultural country.”

Will you be present in 2012 as well?

“Yes, we have already registered. 2012 is going to be a very special year for us. The Floriade will soon be opening its doors just a stone’s throw away from our company. And we are also introducing a new recirculation fan this year. It will be on display during the Horti Fair.”

The Horti Fair organizes get-togethers with exhibitors several times a year. The first of these were what are known as the trade show cafés, which took place in January. These meetings attracted scores of exhibitors.

The Exhibitor Meeting on 19 April is on a greater scale. The exact programme will be announced in due course. Exhibitors in 2011 and 2012 will receive invitations to this meeting.

The Horti Fair is the greatest international trade show for Technology, Innovation and Inspiration in Horticulture and it took place in the Amsterdam RAI in the first week of November. The trade fair chose to take a new course last year: from square metres to cubic metres. As a consequence, the Horti Fair will be offering more transfer of knowledge in future, more networking opportunities and more exciting events, like the Flower Catwalk and the International HortiCongress.

Visitors to the Horti Fair numbered 23,240 from 65 different countries. They collectively paid 27,500 visits lasting an average of 5 hours during the four days of the trade show: a rise of 20 % compared with 2010. The average rating rose as well – to 6.8 – and 62 % of all visitors believed that the fair was successful to very successful in facilitating and exchanging knowledge. Getting to know new technologies, products and services, networking and gaining knowledge are the most important motives for visitors. When asked whether the trade fair had lived up to their expectations, 68% replied that it had been what they had expected or beyond that.

Points of improvement suggested by visitors also emerged from the survey. The most important criticism included the coordination between the three HortiWeek events (Horti Fair, Trade Fair and IFTF), better signage at the show and better programming (the congress and the seminars). Director Frans-Peter Dechering says, “Visitors have given us lots of points for improvement. But the general picture is that the Horti Fair has come alive for visitors and exhibitors. It is perceived as the foremost technology event in international horticulture and the fair has clearly improved in comparison with previous years. We’re on the right road.”

Exhibitors are satisfied as well

The market research agency also interviewed exhibitors at the Horti Fair 2011. Seven out of ten exhibitors are satisfied to very satisfied with the trade show, which is a slight increase compared with 2010. Most of the criticism came from exhibitors in hall 8, which was the quietest of the four exhibition halls. “This is one of our points for attention in the coming year,” promises Dechering. “Hall 8 will be busy again too.”

Hall 10 in the Amsterdam RAI was the floriculture hall during the last Horti Fair, when a large number of floricultural companies – including plant breeders – could be found here. These businesses have now indicated that they will also be present at the Horti Fair in 2012. Dechering: “The floriculture hall at the Horti Fair will once more be the showcase of international floriculture!”

Horti Fair 2012

This year the Horti Fair will be taking place in the Amsterdam RAI from 30 October to 2 November inclusive. Exhibitor recruitment has now begun.

The number of visitors and visits to the Horti Fair grew this year. Both exhibitors and visitors appreciated the new course taken by the Horti Fair. The Horti Fair is really back in business says its director, Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘This goes not only for the number of visitors but also for the return of the “wow factor” at this year’s Horti Fair.’

The Horti Fair is the biggest international trade fair for technology, innovation and inspiration in horticulture and took place in the Amsterdam RAI on 1 to 4 November inclusive. Because last year’s trade fair contended with a drop in the number of visitors and fewer exhibitors, its organisers decided on a new course: ‘from square metres to cubic metres’. The result this year was an emphasis on more content, more expertise, more opportunities for networking, and more spectacle.

To begin with, the new course of action resulted in more exhibitors: 599 (an increase of 10%). The number of visitors also went up. This was indicated by the Horti Fair’s new online visitor registration system: visitors could register in advance at the website. This made it possible to obtain a highly accurate and transparent count, according to Horti Fair’s director, Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘Included in our new approach’, he said, ‘is an even more accurate registration and transparent communication.’

Attracted to this year’s Horti Fair were 23,240 unique visitors who came from 67 countries. And they made an estimated 27,750 visits to the trade fair: an increase of approximately 20%. Of these visitors, 16,240  entered by means of a Horti Fair scan, 3,750 came from Aalsmeer, 1,500 from Vijfhuizen, 750 from the Aquatech (a trade fair running simultaneously in the Amsterdam RAI) and 1,000 were part of a group such as a delegation, a group of journalists, or a group of secondary school students. The number of people registering in advance amounted to 24,244.

The ultimate in international trade fairs for horticulture

A number of awards were presented during the Horti Fair. Among them were the Interpolis Quality Cup for the best products generated by the floricultural sector. In the category devoted to cut flowers, first prize went to Royal van Zanten. Sion BV walked off with the top award for pot plants. The Marketing Cup – the award for the exhibitor who attracted the most visitors to the trade fair – went to Hortiplan.

Corn. Bak won the Innovation Award in the ‘Green’ category with its Florinilla^® ‘Bella’^[p]. Mardenkro won both the Innovation Award in the ‘Technique’ category and the Press Award for its coating product, ReduFuse. Mardenkro’s Managing Director, Jort Gerritsen, thus had two reasons to be a satisfied exhibitor. ‘Winning these prizes led to countless contacts with interested growers, distributors, members of the press and others. For us, the Horti Fair 2011 has been a very rewarding trade fair.’

Other exhibitors were extremely satisfied as well. ‘We’re headed in the right direction now’, said Wouter Kuiper, Managing Director at Kubo, ‘And if we stay on this path, Horti Fair will once again be the ultimate in international trade fairs for horticulture.’ ‘The positive vibes are back at the Horti Fair’, said Mattijs Bodegom, Manager of Marketing & Communications at breeding company Fides. ‘We took not one but four steps forward.’

Visitors, too, had high praise for the trade fair. ‘This afternoon, Rob Baan of Koppert Cress congratulated me on the trade fair with the words “Congratulations, you and your team have put Horti Fair back on the map”,’ said Horti Fair Director Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘This is just one of the examples of this praise, and it’s simply wonderful to hear.’

Horti Fair 2012

Horti Fair 2012 will be held 30 October to 2 November inclusive.

Why do both of you have a stand at the Horti Fair?

‘The Horti Fair is an excellent platform for meeting international customers. The people who attend the Horti Fair are high-potential visitors: not tourists but people who really operate in this sector. That’s why we’ve been here with our partner company Urbinati for so many years.’

Have you made some good contacts this week?
“We sure have. We’ve met potential customers from many different countries including New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and Canada, Russia, and Ukraine. This year’s Horti Fair has absolutely brilliant. I’m also happy with the dates: the first week in November is perfect for us.’

Have you already done some business?

“Yes! But you can’t judge participation in a trade fair just by what it generates in the short term. We just sold a machine to a Canadian company that we met here in Amsterdam five years ago!”