Power networking in Nuremberg

For many sector insiders, the latest success of the world-leading fair came as no surprise. Over the last year it became evident that most manufacturers were holding back on innovations in the Interzoo-free year and would instead concentrate all their efforts on the top show in Nuremberg. As a result, most regional trade shows in 2009 attracted moderate interest from exhibitors and trade visitors, and the French Expozoo fair even had to be cancelled due to a lack of exhibitors. Visitor numbers increased on all days Empty show halls certainly weren't the norm at Interzoo - there was plenty of activity on all four days. According to information from the fair organiser, the Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft Zoologischer Fachbetriebe (WZF), visitor figures were up on those of two years ago on each of the four show days. The opening day was the best: on the Thursday, a public holiday, an increase of 10 per cent in trade visitors was recorded compared with 2008. With an overall increase of 3 per cent in visitors and 4 per cent more exhibitors than 2008, Interzoo emphatically underlined its claim to be the world's most important pet supplies trade show. 1 502 companies from 53 countries presented their products and services on a record exhibition area of over 90 000 m² over the four days. The international spread of exhibitors increased once more compared with 2008 from 77 to 79 per cent. The principal exhibiting countries apart from Germany were China, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, France, Belgium, Spain and Poland. The majority of exhibitors were very satisfied with their appearance at the show and reported making many new contacts and concluding successful business deals. The many trade visitors also found Interzoo interesting. "I think that the fair could extend into another day," said one retailer. His reason for suggesting this was that visitors would not then be as pressed for time when visiting the stands. A work colleague backed his proposal, saying: "Interzoo has now become so big that four days is too little." The positive assessment of Interzoo is also confirmed in a quick poll on the Internet platform PET-global.com (see News section), although some trade visitors complain as in previous years that the clarity of the fair layout left a lot to be desired. "All muddled up, no clear overview," said one participant in the survey. The desire was also expressed for stands to be organised more clearly according to product groups. "A route planner is…