Organisers of Spain’s Fruit Attraction trade fair have said that this year’s edition went a long way towards meeting one of their key objectives, that of boosting international participation in the event, with a notable increase in overseas visitors.
The second edition of the trade gathering, which was held from 20-22 October in the Spanish capital’s Feria de Madrid exhibition centre, reported an 88 per cent rise in international visitors compared with the 2009 event.
According to its co-organisers, exhibition specialist Ifema and Spanish producer-exporter federation Fepex, Fruit Attraction met all of its expectations when it closed its doors last week, with a 48 per cent increase in visitors, of which 85 per cent were national and 15 per cent international, from 72 countries.
In particular, Fruit Attraction’s backers reported a noteworthy presence from Italy, France, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands and Poland.
The event brought together 452 direct exhibitors, a 28 per cent increase compared with the previous year, of which 80 per cent were producers and marketers from Spain’s autonomous communities and 20 per cent were goods and services suppliers.
The amount of exhibition space used also increased by 57 per cent compared with the 2009 edition.
The 2010 event was notable for the number of parallel activities that were also staged during its three-day span, including the first international seedless table grape conference Grape Attraction, which attracted trade professionals from South Africa, Chile, Israel and the US, as well as Europe.
In a statement, its organisers said Fruit Attraction had established itself as a “business hub” and had “contributed towards invigorating relations” between the different agents in the supply chain.
“The high level of foreign trade visitors to this year’s edition will contribute towards fulfilling one of the principal objectives of next year's event taking place from 19 to 21 October 2011, namely to boost its internationalisation,” they added.
