Under the motto “Re-Start 2020 Project” Veronafiere wants to get the natural stone industry going again in times of Corona
Update: These days, IMM Carrara has announced that it will hold a fair in Carrara from September September 24-26, 2020 titled “Ma.R.Mo 20.20” (Italian).
Marmomac has placed this year’s edition under the motto “Re-Start 2020 Project”. Unlike all stone fairs since March of this year, it will keep its original date (30 September – 03 October). However, there are far-reaching changes on the exhibition ground: the 55th edition of the biggest natural stone show in the west will no longer have 12 halls, but only 5 with reduced outdoor area. And there will be only one entrance, namely the Re Teodorico in Viale del’Industria.
With the new motto, Veronafiere wants to underline its claim to set the trend in the natural stone business worldwide. “This special edition seeks to relaunch the natural stone sector towards a ‘new normal’ in the post Covid-19 emergency period,” as said the press release.
The crucial point is that 2 opposing aspects must come together: on the one hand, the pandemic regulations of the Italian government must be respected, and on the other hand, Marmomac shall be as crowded as usual. Therefore, this year there will only be the entrance Re Teodorico; there, it should be possible to comply with the state regulations on distance and disinfection, according to the organizer.
Luckily, this entrance has been completely redesigned and was planned to go into operation with Samoter fair in October. It now has a high roof on steel supports reminding a canopy in a tropical forest.
Until now, the Verona fairground had lacked a representative entrance.
All in all, this means that the entire Marmomac will move towards this entrance: this year, only Halls 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12 and the outdoor areas B, D, and Avenue E will be in operation.
Veronafiere hopes that even with fewer exhibitors, many visitors will come, at least from Europe, as said in the press release.
For those interested from abroad, there will be special service on the Internet: “To ensure connection with non-EU markets that may still be unable to attend because of restrictions, Marmomac is also developing innovative tools to make virtual b2b meetings possible.”
In any case, the spectacular “Italian Stone Theater” shall to be held again. In Hall 1 it had become a trademark of the fair in recent years. The original plan had been to give it the theme “Stone and Time” this year. In the previous years, the topic had been “Naturalness” and “Water”. In the last press release of the fair, however, there was a only vague mention of a “Research Journey” in terms of design.
The redesigned Re Teodorico entrance is linked to the “Piano Industriale” (Industrial Plan) that the exhibition company has set itself for the years 2019 to 2022. During this period, 105 million € are to be invested. In February this year, Veronafiere had already carried out a capital increase of €30 million for this purpose.
As part of this Piano Industriale, the Scaligero exhibition area will be renovated, which includes the Re Teodorico entrance. Reports in the Italian press say that there will be a “renewal of the infrastructure, improvement of catering, modernization, and digitalization”.
Another part of the development plan is to foster Veronafiere’s international activities. Most recently, it had launched Wine South America (Winesa) in southern Brazil. It is currently planning to develop Wine to Asia in Shenzen, China, not far from Hong Kong. Its competitor there is ProWein China in Shanghai by Messe Düsseldorf.
Veronafiere runs a total of 72 trade fairs and events, some of them only in partnership. Of these, 48 take place in Italy and 24 abroad. It generates around 40% of its sales in the agricultural and food sector.
Marmomac, 30. September – 03. Oktober 2020
See also:
(22.06.2020, USA: 06.22.2020)
