With a 12.5 percent increase in attendance compared to last year, Expo Riva Schuh and Gardabags hosted 26 events in 103 countries. These events included the International Summit in collaboration with CIFA, Market Focuses and the Innovation Village Retail.
"At this edition, I perceived an atmosphere among the best I have ever experienced," said Roberto Pellegrini, Chairman of Riva del Garda Fiere Congressi. "The quality of the exhibits, the range of the product offering, the depth of the events and the response from exhibitors and visitors: all of these components were met with positive feedback from the fair's international trade visitors."
The event succeeded, marking Asia's grand return and understanding of the current market, especially post-pandemic. It helped in analysing and implementing winning business strategies capable of mitigating risk.
The expo saw a significant increase in Spanish and German buyers. At the same time, there was also a seven percent decrease in buyers from Italy. There was also massive participation on the fair's digital platform, leading to meetings between 10,000 industry professionals.
The Summit explored supply and demand challenges and opportunities, allowing a valuable discussion among footwear industry leaders on the future of sourcing, bringing together Asian manufacturers, international retailers and buyers' associations.
The Innovation Village Retail, along with the startup competition, focused on innovative technologies for a more sustainable shopping experience. The winner of this competition was Cents, an ethical, engaging and sustainable solution allowing a percentage of each e-commerce purchase to be donated to charitable causes.
The entire market report by Enrico Cietta, Chairman of the Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags Scientific Committee, is available here.
Next year marks the 100th edition of the expo, and the dates are already here, the 13th to the 16th of January and the 15th to the 18th of June 2024.
