Changing times

Trade visitors in their thousands from all over the world, interesting and in some cases truly innovative products, and imaginative stands: the Interzoo fair in Nuremberg once again delivered what it promised. PET worldwide took full advantage of the opportunities in Nuremberg to make contacts and get up to speed with the latest trends in the pet supplies sector.
This was the first time that Interzoo was staged exclusively on weekdays. Instead of Thursday to Sunday, as in the past, this year's show ran from Tuesday to Friday. The new times evidently suited most exhibitors and trade visitors very well; even the Bologna fair considers this change a promising idea and has promptly rescheduled Zoomark International 2019 for days in the middle of the week.
Those visitors to Interzoo in particular who had a long journey were happy to be able to spend the weekend at home with friends and family after attending the show. This was obvious above all from the much reduced numbers of visitors on the Friday of the fair compared with the three previous days, which were very busy. On the final day many trade representatives and many of the exhibiting managers were long gone from Nuremberg.
More than a few exhibitors, who had made it their aim to attract German trade visitors in particular, were disappointed with the decision to move the trade show. This is because the number of visitors not only fell by nearly 15 per cent compared with 2016 to under 10 000, but also marked an all-time low measured against the shows of the last ten years. The main reason for the decline is that many specialist dealers did not see any opportunity to leave their business in mid-week. Nor did the reference by the show organisers to the Thursday of the show, which was a public holiday in Germany, help much. Many specialist traders who would have to be back in their shop for Friday and Saturday, the days of the week yielding the biggest sales, didn't even consider making the long journey to Interzoo and stayed at home. 

In Bologna, too, it might have to be taken into consideration that the number of Italian visitors will contract next year. In Italy there are even more independent pet supplies retailers than in Germany, who can't leave their shops during the week. It may be the case that the fair organisers…