19.01.2015
IN A CONFIDENT CLIMATE A NEW FAIR IS BORN BUT NEEDS TO BE STRENGTHENED TO ATTRACT MORE EXHIBITORS AND VISITORS
The newborn TISE, The International Surface Event, engendered by a merger of StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas, Surfaces and TileExpo and successfully launched in January in Las Vegas – where it returns from January 20 to 23, 2015 – opened its doors on the East Coast, too, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, from October 19 to 22.
The new location in Miami Beach, Florida, one of America’s favorite vacation spots (and featured in myriad films and TV films) whose very name evokes sunshine, palm trees and the good life, was a strategic choice. In fact, while a separate community, Miami Beach is an offshoot of Miami, which not only features a very high concentration of foreign banks but also a port and an airport that’s a heavily trafficked access to the United States, especially for passengers and cargo coming from the Caribbean and South America. In addition, Florida has big reserves of stone,especially limestone.
Organized by Hanley Wood Exhibitions and officially sponsored by the Marble Institute of America (MIA), the Natural Stone Council, the Building Stone Institute (BSI) and World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), TISE East had a long list of supporters, among whom we cite just Marmomacc, Veronafiere, Allied Stone Industries, the Stone Fabricators Alliance, the Vitória Stone Fair – which contributed to its success.
And so to date TISE and TISE East, together with their competitor, Coverings, are the North American reference events for the stone sector, for flooring and facing and tiled products, an authentic showcase for business but also for the educational aspect so obviously insisted on, given the rich calendar of practical demonstrations and updating courses offered by both events. In fact, the educational program, which commenced on October 19,lasted four days, one more than the actualtradeshow, and offered numerous seminars,workshops and study sessions, most of them accredited by prestigious associations like the American Institute of Architects (AIA) or the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC) and enabling participants to get study credits or even TISE East Masters Certification.
Among the many there was a full-day course for architects and designers on “Designing with Natural Stone” organized by the Marmomacc Stone Academy and also quite a few sessions devoted to problems of environmental sustainability and green design. In fact, early this year new standards took force in the United States for eco-sustainable natural stone production, the ANSI/NSC 373.
Interesting and useful in rationing space were several dedicated areas: the Social Learning Lab for learning all the secrets of the new media by now indispensable for staying “connected”, the Artisan Avenue and the Product Marketplace presenting special products, and The Cage, offering live demonstrations by the Stone Fabricators Alliance.
TISE East was conceived at a time of renewed confidence in the United States, where the economy is getting back on track while elsewhere it is having a hard time doing so. As proof of this, in the October issue of its World Economic Outlook the International Monetary Fund downsized its estimates of global growth: world GDP in 2014 should grow by 3.3% and by 3.8% in 2015 (compared to July forecasts, 0.1% and 0.2% less, respectively). Faring worst is mainly the Eurozone, where Italy is in a recession and even France and Germany are slowing down. America is doing better although this year, where GDP is concerned, it has been surpassed by China as the world’s leader. In any case, thanks to increased productivity, to its monetary policy and favorable financing conditions, to a reduction of the tax burden and lessening of the budget deficit in the 2014 fiscal year which ended September 30 (2.8% of GDP compared to the 4.1% of 2013 according to preliminary estimates from the Congressional Budget Office), to improvements in household incomes and on the housing market, the uptake in the United States is moving so quickly that the IMF raised its growth forecast for 2014 to 2.2%, 0.5% higher than July’s predictions, although the estimate for 2015 remains unchanged (+3.1%). The IMF also believes that by the end of the year the unemployment rate will be around 6.3% instead of the 7.4% in 2013.
In particular, the real estate sector - a litmus test to gauge the health of a country’s economy –while seesawing in the U.S. has begun to grow again, especially in housing. Together with New York it is Miami itself (followed by Los Angeles) to attract the biggest foreign investments. In September the NAHB index formulated by the National Association of Home Builders to show current and six-month sales expectations was at 59 points compared to the 55 in August, a figure revealing even more optimism than expected.
This confident climate is a boon for the stone industry, too, closely tied to the building sector. U.S. International Trade Commission figures for the tons of stone materials the country imported in March and April of this year are proof of this (+15.8% of worked granite, +14.7% of worked marble, +53.9% of travertine, +21.9% of other calcareous stones compared to the same period of 2013 [source: Stone Update]) as are the amounts of stones imported from Italy. In fact, according to the Marmomacc Observatory,in the first half of 2014 Italy exported raw and finished stone products to the United States worth 167 million euros (up 0.1% from the first half of 2013). IMM Carrara instead calculates that from January to June 2014 these exports were worth 169.3 million euros, 3.3% less in volume than in the first half of 2013 but with value essentially unvaried (-0.7%). Aside from these slight discrepancies, the figures in any case show a certain amount of stability on the American market. Even better was the sixmonth picture gotten from Confindustria Marmomacchine’s processing of ISTAT data on Italian exports of stone-working machinery and equipment: with purchases worth 36 million euros, up 30.7% from the first half of 2013, the U.S. took third place among importers from Italy.
Getting back to TISE East, although for now it can be considered an “offshoot” of TISE created just nine months earlier in Las Vegas with about 760 exhibitors (more than a hundred of them in the stone sector) it in any case succeeded in attracting around 200 companies (mainly American), a good part of them working in stone. Not bad as a debut, although we hope that in future there will be a stronger Italian presence on the stone front, for now exiguous probably because of TISE East’s closeness in time to the upcoming TISE in Las Vegas in January 2015 but also to Marmomacc in Verona in late September, which certainly imposed a choice for cost containment. In any case, the Italians exhibiting - more makers of technology than purveyors of materials – were the largest foreign group, followed only by the Chinese. We also mention the group exhibit organized by Veronafiere, long a partner of Hanley Wood, located in the Marmomacc Pavilion. Visitors were almost exclusively American, with few foreigners attending the event.
We will have to wait for future editions to see how this new show will develop but are sure that the location was the right choice, seeing as how the East Coast is an area in ferment and of definite interest where business opportunities are concerned.
MŽ Consulting & Fairs
Poslovne storitve
Matjaž Žigon s.p.
Head Office:
Grčarevec 8
1370 Logatec
Slovenia
Tel.: +386 1 750 94 90
E-mail: info@mz-consulting.org
Turkey Office:
Fenerbahçe Mh. Dalyan Aralığı Sk.
Emek Apt. No:13 D:2 Kadıköy 34726
İstanbul Turkey
Tel.: +90 532 5214849
E-mail: hilal@mz-consulting.org
2024 Calendar
Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags - Riva del Garda 13-16 January 2024
SIGEP - Rimini 20-24 January 2024
TISE - The International Surfaces Event Las Vegas 24-26 January 2024
FIERAGRICOLA - Verona 31 January-3 February 2024
Samuexpo - Pordenone 1-3 February 2024
Pescare Show - Vicenza 3-4 February 2024
Hospitality - Il Salone dell'Accoglienaza - Riva del Garda 5-8 February 2024
Aquafarm/Novel Farm - Pordenone 14-15 February 2024
ForumPiscine - Bologna 14-16 February 2024
OUTEX - Bologna 14-16 February 2024
MYPLANT & GARDEN - Milano 21-23 February 2024
CUCINARE - Pordenone 2-10 March 2024
Ortogiardino - Pordenone 2-10 March 2024
MYPLANT & GARDEN - Milano 21-23 February 2024
Progetto Fuoco - Verona 28 February-2 March 2024
Key Energy - Rimini 28 February-1 March 2024
Vinitaly - Verona 14-17 April 2024
Enolitech - Verona 14-17 April 2024
Sol & Agrifood - Verona 14-17 April 2024
Radioamatore Hi-Fi car - Pordenone 20 21 April 2024
Next Mobility Exhibition - Milano 8-10 May 2024
Transpotec - Milano 8-11 May 2024
Wine to Asia - Shenzhen 9-11 May 2024
Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags - Riva del Garda 15-18 June 2024
Xylexpo - Milano 21-24 May 2024
RIMINIWELLNESS - Rimini 30 May-2 June 2024
Wine South America - Brasil 3-5 September 2024
MILANO Fashion&Jewels - Milano 14-17 September 2024
Marmomac - Verona 24-27 September 2024
SUN Beach&Outdoor Style - Rimini 9-11 October 2024
SIA Hospitality Design - Rimini 9-11 October 2024
FIERACAVALLI - Verona 7-10 November 2024
Ecomondo - Rimini 5-8 November 2024
IBE - Rimini 19-21 November 2024
2025 Calendar
MARCA - Bologna 15-16 January 2025
PTE - Milano 22-24 January 2025
Bit - Borsa Internazionale del Turismo - Milano 9-11 February 2025
SANA Food - Bologna 23-25 February 2025
Italia Legno Energia - Arezzo March 2025
Horeca Next - Pordenone 10-12 February 2025
SANA Beauty - Bologna 20-23 March 2025
ZOOMARK - Bologna 5-7 May 2025
AUTOPROMOTEC - Bologna 21-24 May 2025
IPACK-IMA - Milano 27-30 May 2025
Pharmintech - Milano 27-30 May 2025
RIVE - Pordenone 5-7 November 2025
HOST - Milano 17-21 October 2025
SICUREZZA - Milano 19-21 November 2025
MADE EXPO - Milano 19-22 November 2025
Global Elevator Exhibition - Milano 19-21 November 2025
MŽ Consulting & Fairs, Copyrights reserved
Izdelava spletnih strani - Spletna postajaWebsite developed by:
Our website uses cookies for better user experience
By continuing to browse our website you agree to our use of cookies which helps us provide you with a good user experience on our website. We use Google Analytics for our own analytical purposes and it installs cookies for this purpose (delete GA cookies). More about cookies.