Over 150,000 professionals, 2700 companies, packed aisles, lively interaction at the stands: the return to physical presence of HostMilano, the fair on restaurants and hospitality, and Tuttofood, the b2b fair for the food ecosystem, surpassed all expectations, from 22 to 26 October at Fieramilano in Rho, in coordination with Meat-Tech.
“The wager of returning to personal contact has been a winner,” says Luca Palermo, CEO and General Director of Fiera Milano. “There was a great desire to conduct business in person, as demonstrated by the encounters of over 150,000 visitors with over 2700 companies. Together with the new pacts made by Fiera Milano, this live approach reinforces the value chain of the Italian agriculture-food ecosystem, along with the sector of hospitality and away-from-home activities, allowing the industry to present itself to the international market in a complete, organized way.”
There was strong international participation: 33% of the visitors at HostMilano came from abroad, representing 144 countries, corresponding to a figure of 14% for Tuttofood, arriving from 111 nations. The largest delegations for HostMilano were from Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, Greece, Romania, Holland, Ukraine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Poland; while for Tuttofood there was great interest from France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Romania, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Holland and Poland. For both fairs, there were also arrivals from the Middle East, Asia, North and South America, and Africa. The same levels of internationalization were seen among the exhibitors: 32% foreign, for the companies at HostMilano, and 17% at Tuttofood.
These numbers confirm the importance of the sector, the status of Milan as a trade fair hub, and a successful strategy, also supported by ICE, the Italian Trade Agency for foreign affairs.
A moment for business, but also for knowledge exchange: there were hundreds of events in the program, joined by over 1.7 million users reached on the social networks.
