EXPANDS THE NATURAL STONE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

It is really international, with a focus on Miami, increasingly interactive with a new web portal dedicated to architects and now also more attentive to the art world alongside designers.  These are some of the innovations Marmomacc presented during the 53rd edition held from 26th to 29th September, 2018.  The trade fair is the most important global event dedicated to marble, granite, processing technologies, applied design and training. 

 

1,600 exhibiting companies (62% international from 55 countries), with more than 68,000 visitors from over 140 countries were the highlights.  Marmomacc is the landmark promotional platform for a sector involving trade worth more than 18 billion euros on a global scale.  This is a market where finished products and processing technology Made in Italy hold second place in terms of exports – worth more than 3.1 billion euros in 2017  - and the first for quality and added value. 

 

Business opportunities for natural stone are as ever at the heart of the trade show through product categories that have been redefined this year to make them more stringent and rational: marble; natural stone; granite; agglomerates and conglomerates; marble blocks; unhewn stone and large formats; processing machinery and equipment; means of transport and lifting/hoisting; abrasives; diamonds; chemicals; services. 

 

“Marmomacc is the absolute international landmark for trade fairs”, said Maurizio Danese, President of Veronafiere.  This clearly emerges from the high level of satisfaction among exhibitors when compared to competitors and the fact that this year – at more than four months from the opening day – the 80,000 square meters of available exhibition space was already sold out.  Such success is the outcome of our ability to provide constantly updated promotional and business tools, including the debut of Marmomacc Industry Vision, the new six-monthly economic outlook focusing on current and future prospects in the stone supply chain”. 

This guiding role has also been acknowledged by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development since 2015 – with the consequent inclusion of Marmomacc in the Special Made in Italy Promotion Plan – as a strategic trade fair for the promotion of Italy’s natural stone industry on the strength of 3,300 companies and 34,200 employees.  Within the scope of planned initiatives, collaboration between Marmomacc, ICE-Italian Trade Agency and Confindustria Marmomacchine for incoming activities targeting international operators continues for 2018: 300 top buyers were selected, invited and hosted in Verona to attend b2b meetings, technical training sessions and visits to local companies.  All this is once again joined by the International Stone Summit – the international conference involving the world’s leading marble associations. 

 

“Internationality is one of the key words for understanding the success of Marmomac”, said Giovanni Mantovani, CEO of Veronafiere.  We have created a natural stone community that can rely on the events we organise in consolidated as well as developing markets such as the United States, Brazil, Egypt and Morocco.  A network that we are keen to strengthen this year  through Miami Calling, an initiative in partnership with Platform magazine to expand real estate opportunities in Florida and promote knowledge and use of natural stone products”. 

 

The trade development of the show focuses on fundamental aspects such as innovation, design and training.  This concept is represented at Marmomacc by the exhibitions highlighted in The Italian Stone Theatre, the pavilion that brings together Italian research, experimentation, stone and technology.  The theme for the 2018 edition is Water and Stone.  This year  also sees the debut of an initiative dedicated to artists to enhance dialogue between water and stone materials in hospitality and well-being context.  More furniture and design brands create specific projects for marble companies.

 

Architects benefit from exclusive training and refresher courses organized by the Marmomac Academy, as well as the new web portal tailor-made for designers who use marble.  This is an increasingly widespread trend since 88% of architects visiting the trade fair clearly state that stone will be included in their future designs. 

 

Marmomac also welcomed two awards: the Icon Award identifies the work displayed in The Italian Stone Theatre that will be used as the image for the 2019 promotion campaign, while the Best Communicator Award acknowledges the care and originality that exhibiting companies dedicate to their stand fittings. 

The 54th edition of Marmomac shall be held in September, 2019 in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet.