With the aim of reinforcing this strategic role, starting in January 2016, a special project dedicated to buyers interested in meeting the more than 1,400 exhibitors present at the fair was kicked off, with a special place of honour reserved for the almost 300 Italian exhibitors. Thus, began the careful selection of delegations of buyers coming from strategic markets, identified also thanks to the meticulous profiling undertaken through scouting activities conducted on foreign markets by the ICE Agency – Consumer Goods Office – Leather Goods and Footwear Line.
The ICE Agency has in fact taken charge of the proposal and insertion, in accordance with the programme and funds allocated by the Ministry for Economic Development to the Expansion of Italian Trade Fairs, with 3 years of funding destined for the EXPO RIVA SCHUH event, which has received the economic and strategic support of ICE and MISE at 3 of its winter editions (2016, 2017, 2018) and 1 summer edition (2016), with the participation of buyers coming from 27 countries (the USA, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Vietnam, Turkey, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Columbia, Peru, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Iran, Poland, Denmark, Latvia, Romania, Norway, and Finland).
The main strength of Expo Riva Schuh, in fact, lies in its ability to present a unique and complete offering in a sole location, as per the repeated confirmations of various buyers interviewed during last edition of the fair and coming from Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Ukraine. These 11 countries, which were present at the January 2018 edition, confirmed the leading role the fair plays in the Private Label segment, while also underlining the numerous opportunities for growth offered up by the Branded segment. A trend that seems to be evolving in synergy with the principles at the heart of the new Gardabags project, which is intrinsically connected to fashion.
“Connection” is, in fact, the word that was most often cited during the talks held with operators, as the very best kind of acknowledgement in confirming this new project’s validity. An eye to the future, which does not lose sight of the event’s role as a concrete business platform, as confirmed in the words of ICE’s delegated buyers, who, all-in-all, represent around 70% of the final orders booked at Expo Riva Schuh, a fair which, even in a moment strongly characterised by outsourcing, manages to satisfy that demand for “Made in Italy”, which remains an essential “Must-have” item.
