Do you love creative handicraft? Do you have a specific hobby related to handmade? Or are you a hobby supplier? In any case, h+h cologne is the place you must go.
Discover the latest trends and participate in creative workshops and fashion shows that will inspire your own creations. at the end of March, the trade fair will be held at Cologne Exhibition centre and we have made an interview with Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH. Don't miss a detail!
What h+h cologne represents the handmade business calendar?
As a business platform, h+h cologne is a must-attend event for the companies. With over 400 exhibitors from around 40 nations, this is the world's largest order show of its kind for the specialised and wholesale trade. And the visitors from the specialised trade gain a comprehensive market overview here, which they can‘t find in any other place in this form and quality.
Why Cologne and what benefits bring this venue to the city?
Why Cologne? Well, the city and the Cologne fairgrounds - with their central location in the city and at the same time in the heart of one of Europe's traffic hubs - offer excellent framework conditions for a successful leading international trade fair.
And for the city, Koelnmesse with its many leading international trade fairs is an enormously important economic factor. Successful events such as h+h cologne, cologne, Gamescom, spoga/gafa or Photokina attracts visitors from all over the globe to the city. This is, for example, an important turnover driver for the service sector in Cologne but also an asset for the city of Cologne.
The numbers have shown continuous growth for over past years. Which novelties will you offer to them this year?
The handicraft industry has again and again impressively demonstrated its innovative power over the past years. I am thus convinced that the companies will once again present several exciting products and creative ideas again this year. So, the trade visitors can once again inform themselves in detail about the latest trends at h+h cologne 2017. This ranges from new materials to improvements in ergonomics and the introduction of new marketing tools for retailers.
The fair presents a multifaceted programme with workshops, a Trend and Fashion Show, and special events. What can you highlight about them?
The trend fashion show of the members of the “Initiative Handarbeit”, a federation of the most important companies in the industry, is one of the highlights trade visitors definitely shouldn't miss. But also the event space „my lovely livingroom“, our visitor meeting point and networking platform for designers, bloggers, celebrities and creative heads provides lots of exciting topics and talks for the trade visitors.
At h+h cologne 2017, the offers are being even more strongly oriented towards the needs of the specialised trade to gain a greater advantage for their trade fair visit.
In past editions, you have wagered on sustainable thinking - eco-friendly crafting at the fair. Do you have the intention to continue the work? How will you approach this responsibility?
Yes, we will continue with "h + h goes green". We introduced it last year with great success. Under the motto "Sustainable thinking - eco-friendly crafting", over 30 exhibitors are represented among other things with ecologically certified products.
Therefore, "h+h goes green" is a very good example for the constant further development of the trade fair. Because sustainability, i.e. the eco-friendly approach to our natural resources, is a growing and future-oriented market. And this is what makes a real leading trade fair: it takes up new developments at an early stage and offers companies and trade visitors from all over the globe important added value, which they can use for their business development.
Lastly, can you give us some participation results from the last edition (h+h cologne 2016)?
Around 14,800 trade visitors from 68 countries attended h+h cologne in 2016 and made use of the trade fair to inform themselves about the current trends and place plenty of orders.
With an increase in the number of exhibitors of around 5 percent and in total 399 exhibitors from 43 nations - including 87 new exhibitors - h+h cologne 2016 was very successful.
With a 70 percent share of foreign exhibitors and a 37 percent share of foreign trade visitors, the International Trade Fair for Creative Handicraft & Hobby Supplies furthermore impressively confirmed its role as the world's most important trading platform for the industry.