HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair and Home Textiles Fair close-out with nearly 47,000 buyers in attendance.
The 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair and the 10th HKTDC Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair, both organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) drew to a successful close on Tuesday 23 April. Over a four-day period (20-23 April), the two fairs welcomed nearly 47,000 global buyers, with increased attendance from several markets including Mainland China, Macao, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey and Brazil.
Commenting on a positive show, Byron Lee, senior exhibitions manager for HKTDC told HousewaresNews.net: “We are very happy with the show layout and attendance this year, enjoying an increased exhibitor base as both our Houseware Fair and Home Textiles Fair culminate in more than 2500 individual exhibitors which makes us the largest homewares show of this kind in Asia. We have had some great feedback from buyers and journalists surrounding the Trend Display following our collaboration with WGSN, and this forms part of our vision to have more curated content, future looking content, and market intelligence – this all backs up the process of exhibitors coming here to take orders.”
The LIFE theme set-out the tone for the show, encapsulating the elements of Lifestyle, Interior, Feast and Enrich, mirroring the recognised trend increase for smart home products with product zones categorised accordingly to facilitate sourcing. Show organisers HKTDC collaborated with international trend forecasting authority WGSN to set up the Trend Forecast Display and host a well-attended trend seminar – Lifestyle and Interiors Trends SS2020, to update both exhibitors and visitors on the latest houseware design trend patterns. Hosting the seminar, Charlie Clark, trend specialist at WGSN gave an insightful and thought provoking analysis of the homewares market, hinting that the consumer was becoming much more aware of how product should fit in with lifestyle and ambition: “The home is becoming a curation, almost gallery like, with much more thought given to the material choice and use of colour. Texture and tone are increasingly linked to our moods and mental well-being, and so we’re seeing designers and manufacturers give much more consideration to this as the start, at the conceptual stage.”
On the show-floor itself, exhibitors engaged with buyers from over 121 countries and regions. Louise Lees, international sales manager at Jobar said: “It’s been a positive show for us, our booth has been busy with buyers and distributors keen to see our latest lines – pleasingly it’s been a very international show in terms of geographical attendance.”
Agreeing, Andrew O’Neill, managing director at DNC said: “We’ve had a positive show, a lot of our range follows current trends and desires including hydration, eco-friendly design, use and re-use products. This show acts as a great pre-qualification of suppliers and so visitors are getting a good opportunity.”