Slump in visitor numbers

Gimborn, Hill's, JBL and Dennerle were a few of the companies that didn't have their own stand at this year's edition of the show, organised by Sagaflor and Egesa-Zookauf. And the final figures may have provided a retrospective endorsement of their decision, as the attendance fell to just under 4 000 compared with the previous, non-Interzoo year. This was in spite of the initially higher number of advance reservations compared with the Interzoo year 2012, said the organisers.
Perhaps the absence of visitors was down to the pleasant weather in late summer, or to the much-evoked "fair fatigue" - it is difficult to come up with an obvious reason. It is also hard to say whether the fair was a success or a failure in spite of the decline in visitor numbers. As is so often the case, the exhibitors reacted differently depending on their level of expectation, with answers ranging from "A waste of time" to "Very satisfying".

Niche offers What was noticeable was that more small companies than usual exhibited at the show this year alongside the leading players, and this benefited the fair. It meant that, in addition to the standard ranges, a wide range of interesting niche products and alternatives to the conventional brands were on display. In fact, Zooevent 2014 was a treasure trove for specialist retailers who want to differentiate themselves from the competition in quality terms.
Although there were no spectacular new products on show on the big stands of the speciality retail cooperatives, there were many interesting initiatives and ideas on how local businesses can be operated more successfully. It was well worth looking at these more closely. "Less is more" Exhibitors also confirmed that those people who did attend the fair really were interested in what was on show. "Better to have fewer visitors of a high quality than a lot of visitors who are only looking out for bargains," was the view of one supplier of special pet food, who was anything but dissatisfied with this year's Zooevent. The 16th Garten- & Zooevent will take place once again in Kassel on 26 and 27 September 2015.