Interview with Aida Cuko

Aida Cuko
International Sales and Marketing Director
VNU Exhibitions Asia - Domotex Asia/CHINAFLOOR

The Chinese customer loves buying imported products

Domotex Asia/CHINAFLOOR is the leading flooring trade exhibition in Asian Pacific and the second largest flooring trade exhibition worldwide. As part of the Domotex show group, Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor is mainly targeting emerging Asian markets. Aida Cuko, International Sales and Marketing Director, VNU Exhibitions Asia-Domotex Asia/ ChinaFloor opens up about expectations from the 2017 trade show and highlights of this year.

What new can be expected at Domotex Asia 2017?

Domotex Asia/ ChinaFloor is expected to expand further as a multi-segment leading international flooring show in Asia-Pacific. The booked exhibiting space as of September was 13.3 per cent larger than the space booked the same period last year. The show is getting more international than ever with a substantial increased demand for participation from all over the world. International brands, up to date, occupy over 30 per cent of the total confirmed exhibiting space which is a considerable increase from the average of 25 per cent from previous editions.

The show will continue to emphasise the importance of environmental protection through the GreenStep Asia Awards program. In 2017, Cadex - the event for architects and designers - is planned in the heart of the handmade carpet hall which will bring to the international handmade carpet producers more qualified visitors from the designer community.

How are handmade carpets being received at the fair?

Handmade carpets are mainly perceived as a piece of art and luxury products. They are considered an important part of space interior design and not just floor covering products. The wealth and quality of life of Chinese people are increasing very rapidly, which has increased their demand for luxury products and high quality residential buildings and interiors. The Chinese customer loves buying imported products. This has created a great market for international handmade carpet producers who mainly sell their products to retailers or interior designers focused on outsourcing high end products for wealthy individuals.

Do you plan to diversify into new product categories?

Floor coverings remain the focus of our show as it is an exhibition dedicated to flooring products. We are expanding our product categories by including ceramic tiles and Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) outdoor decking. Special areas for the manufacturers of these types of flooring products are to be created for the first time for the upcoming edition, in the heart of some of the most popular halls.

From which regions do exhibitors at Domotex Asia hail from?

Domotex Asia/ ChinaFloor hosts exhibitors from all over the world. In 2016, there were 1303 exhibitors, of which 1,000 were from China and 303 from 39 other countries. The carpet sector is the largest segment of the show. The exhibiting space includes five halls covering a total gross area of more than 60,000 square metre. Every year, it attracts over 600 carpet manufacturers from more than 20 countries. Belgium, Germany, Iran, Turkey and the United States of America have a high presence in the machine-made carpet section. The handmade carpet section hosts mainly manufacturers from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan. Bangladesh is becoming an important country with an increased number of exhibitors of carpet raw materials, mainly jute. In the carpet machinery section, Germany, the United States of America, Belgium and Taiwan play an important role.

What innovations were showcased at the InnovAction Flooring Campaign (textile relevant) at this year's Domotex Asia?

InnovAction Flooring is a campaign through which flooring manufacturers launch for the first time their latest products in the global market. The products are initially launched online before the show in a dedicated portal. Pre-registered visitors can navigate through all these products, identify products of their interest and arrange on-site meetings in advance. This campaign gives exhibitors great exposure to visitors before the show. During the show, samples of newly launched products are displayed in a very attractive way in dedicated areas and show rooms.

In 2016, there were 108 new products launched for the carpet sector online. For the first time, carpet halls had a dedicated Innovaction area, separated from wood and resilient floor coverings. Companies like Invista, Shanhua, Fuxing, Haima and Voxflor displayed their latest products in this area. New colours, designs, shapes, backing technologies and other details were brought to the audience. For example, Invista showcased their most innovative product, Antron carpet fibre. Fuxing launched their latest carpet tile shape called born-hexagon, a graph connected by six head-tail lines which breaks through the normal square shape of a carpet tile.

How was the response to Domotex Asia 2016 in comparison to that last year? What were the event's highlights?

The show in 2016 attracted 50,398 trade visitors from more than 106 nations. This was an increase of 9.3 per cent in the number of visitors compared to the previous year. Around 62.8 per cent of exhibiting space for 2017 was rebooked on the spot.

The handmade carpet sector was highlighted with the Handmade Carpet Hosted Buyer Match-Making Event, a B2B casual networking event where handmade carpet exhibitors had an opportunity to meet selected carpet buyers from China and other Asian countries.

Also, for the first time, we organised a North American distributor delegation consisting of some of the biggest USA flooring distributors which conducted factory visits nearby Shanghai and also held B2B meetings with selected exhibitors during the show. In addition, Cadex, an exclusive event for architecture and design, was launched successfully for the first time parallel to DOMOTEX Asia/CHINAFLOOR, with more than 50 innovative material suppliers and more than 10 dedicated events, conferences and seminars that attracted some of the most important architects, interior designers and property developers in the industry.

How was the participation from India?

Participation of manufacturers from India keeps increasing year on year. In 2016, India ranked first among international countries in terms of the number of participating exhibitors (almost 50 companies) and sixth in terms of the occupied space in square metres. Although we see an increased interest of exhibitors from India in the wood and resilient sector as well, handmade carpet remains the most important sector. We work very closely with Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) which is the official organiser of the Indian pavilion at the show. The pavilion keeps growing year on year and the space booked by CECP for 2017 is already 15 per cent larger than that in 2016. Handmade carpet brands such as Jaipur, Man Made, SAIF are some of our loyal clients that participate individually outside of the CEPC pavilion.

What is the size of the global floorings market?

The flooring market has been growing in line with the construction industry. It is projected to reach over US$ 300 billion by 2020, a growth rate of almost five per cent from 2015. Asia Pacific region accounts for 40 per cent of the global flooring market, Europe for 23 per cent and North America for 20 per cent.

At what rate is the flooring market growing in Asia Pacific? Which geographies in this region are warming up?

More than 50 per cent of the construction business is already in emerging markets. In recent years, the Asia-Pacific region has progressed tremendously in the flooring market, mainly due to emerging economies such as China and India. China has already overtaken the United States of America as the world's number one construction market. The growth of spending capacity and the growing urbanisation in markets such as China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to boost the spending for flooring products in sectors such as hospitality, health care, transportation and retail.

Published on: 18/10/2016

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.