Posted by Rachel Westall on 23 April 2024
h+h cologne 2024 closed its doors with strong figures and a positive feedback from the industry. In line with the market figures published by Initiative Handarbeit e.V., which show that handicrafts are anchored within society more than ever, h+h cologne offered a huge international meeting point for trade visitors of the creative community. In total, the visitors came together from 78 countries. The survey that was carried out by GfK Nuremberg on behalf of the industry association, Initiative Handarbeit, proves the growing enthusiasm for textile handicrafts. In the meantime, the 18 to 29-year-olds form the largest group of handicraft fans.
With its new key theme 'Creative Empowerment', h+h cologne 2024 set itself the goal of actively supporting the handicraft industry in its growth and helping the specialised trade to master the current challenges. In this connection, the trade fair developed a new zone concept for overriding knowledge transfer. Here, the special focus of the programme lay on business-relevant aspects, such as marketing and reach expansion via diverse sales channels and platforms. As further education measures, the visitors were able to enjoy 60 programme items in total that focused on the main topics industry trends, founding companies and marketing strategies.
"With our new zone concept and the key theme Creative Empowerment we are setting important impulses that will support the industry long-term and substantiate our position as the leading B2B platform. The good mood in the exhibition halls and the full houses during the lectures send out a clear signal: The visitors of the event want to learn, establish new national and international contacts as well as find business partners. With this development in mind, we are already eagerly looking forward to the event in 2025," stated Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer, Koelnmesse.
After three successful days at the trade fair, the 300 exhibitors from 40 countries looked back on a successful event. Creative products and services were presented to around 12,000 trade visitors, attending press representatives and content creators from 22 to 24 March. The biggest international groups of visitors came from the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. Canada and Japan recorded the highest growth. With a 76 percent share of foreign exhibitors and a 45 percent share of foreign trade visitors, h+h cologne 2024 was able to emphasise its significant position within the international handicraft industry.
The complete survey of GfK can be found on the website of Initiative Handarbeit.
Next events:
h+h americas, 1 to 3 May 2024, Chicago
h+h cologne, 7 to 9 March 2025, Cologne
