Daniel Marco Blanes – Feria Hábitat València

Feria Hábitat València

After two unusual years, the fairs are back. Daniel Marco Blanes, Institutional Relations Director at Feria Hábitat València, tells us more about the impact and need for the return of fairs this year.

After two unusual years, the fairs are back. Were we all already in need of the return of fairs dedicated to their sectors?

Obviously, it was two years of pandemic that had its impact on the business of events and fairs. However, it should be borne in mind that it has been a period of expansion for the furniture sector, in which companies have been able to take advantage of a change in consumption habits, and have taken advantage of this time to renovate and redecorate their homes. In this sense, companies need to communicate their news and resume their contacts with their network of distributors and customers. The fairs, in this sense, and the Feria de Habitàt de Valência in particular, are the best channel for this.

What greater inference can we draw from the consequences of the pandemic in business sectors?

As I said, in the furniture sector it even caused a reactivation effect. The fact of being confined at home made the consumer realize the importance of it and the need to remodel it, furnish it, change the furniture, etc. This reactivated the sector, no doubt. And I am sure that the furniture sector in Portugal has also reactivated.

Meanwhile, what has changed at the Feria Valencia?

The Feria de Habitàt de Valência has adapted to the situation and we have begun to work at the service of the production sectors and our sectors. After this period, we are now in full capacity and with magnificent prospects for the next edition of the Feria de Habitàt de Valência, where we hope to fill the entire enclosure with about 100,000 m2 and more than a thousand exhibitors together with the call for the SICI Kitchen Space and the Textiles of the Premium Home by Textilhogar. 

More than the impact on the local economy, what do you think will be the biggest impact of the fair this year?

The biggest impact this year will be positive with the celebration of the Feria de Habitàt de Valência, as I mentioned earlier. And let me highlight the very important role that the Portuguese industry will play, with a strong presence of Portuguese exhibitors in the hands of APIMA, with whom we maintain an excellent and fluid relationship of collaboration and mutual support.

For over 100 years organizing fairs and events, what can exhibitors and visitors at fairs this year count on?

We look forward to a historic edition of the Feria de Habitàt de Valência. In this 2022, multiple factors converge that point to an event of enormous success and significance for the trajectory of the historic International Furniture Fair in Valencia. We will create a comprehensive showcase around all the sectors that make up the furniture, with more than a thousand exhibitors that will occupy nine pavilions and about 100,000 square meters of exhibition space at the Feria de Habitàt de Valência.

There are several reasons that explain this. First of all, the Fair returns after three years and I can already tell you that much of the sector has chosen this fair and this September for the launch of its new collections. The sector needed a fair like Habitat.

In addition, as you know, this 2022 is very special for the entire furniture and design community, as Valencia celebrates the fact that it is the World Capital of Design. The week of the Feria de Habitàt de Valência, from September 20 to 23, will be the climax of the entire program of scheduled events, with the presence of the most relevant designers of the moment.

But it is also in this edition that the Valencia Habitàt Fair converges in its celebration with the sectors of furniture, equipment and textiles for the home, works, upholstery and decoration, through the simultaneous celebration together with the SICI Kitchen Space and the Textiles of the Premium Home of Textilhogar.

What is the balance, but also what are your expectations for this year that is still half way through?

One of the great strengths of the Feria de Habitàt de Valência will be precisely its powerful international dimension. This year more than 25% of our showcase is international, which means that one in four exhibitors of the Fair is foreign, which shows the interest of brands from reference countries such as Italy, Germany, France or Portugal for our fair.

In the field of visitors, I also tell you that we are launching what is perhaps the most powerful campaign for buyers, both national and international, in recent years. One thing that might help you understand is the fact that we’ve already booked over 3,000 hotel rooms for guest buyers. The Feria de Habitàt de Valência selects the most interesting buyers from our exhibitors and invites them to participate. They are buyers from more than 60 countries, among which will stand out this year large companies from the United States, Portugal, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, United Arab Emirates and Balkans.

All this will be complemented by the actions promoted by the Valencian Generalitat through IVACE International and also by ICEX, which is organized by ANIEME and FEDAI and that allow the arrival of professionals with high purchasing power of these markets, in addition to prescribers and international media very interested in covering the fair.

With all the above, we hope to celebrate the best Feria de Habitàt de Valência of the last decade.