MILAN — October 3, 2011 — ITMA 2011, held in Barcelona from 22nd to 29th September, closed its
doors with some impressive figures: in excess of 100,000 visitors hailing from 138 countries paid a
visit to the over 1,350 exhibitors during the eight days of the trade fair.
Italy led the way, both in terms of the number of exhibiting companies (319), and for total
visitors who streamed into the Catalan city (nearly 9,000, or 9% of the total number of visitors to
the event). “These are very respectful figures, mirroring the healthy state of Italy’s entire
textile manufacturing sector,” emphasizes Sandro Salmoiraghi, President of ACIMIT, the Italian
Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers. “Our manufacturers believed in ITMA as a must
opportunity for the industry, and they were right.”
The many qualified contacts established must now be rendered concrete, although a good deal
of business was concluded right then and there at the trade fair.
Attilio Camozzi, President of Marzoli, says he is satisfied with the event’s outcome. “At the
fair we were able to finalize orders for 30 million euros. Argentina and India are the main export
destinations for the machinery we’ve sold, but orders will also be coming in from Turkey,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.”
“Considering the current situation in the textile industry and the financial crisis, we’re
pleasantly surprised with these results,” confirms Tiberio Lonati, CEO of Lonati Group. “This
edition of ITMA has been especially satisfactory, both in terms of the significant level of
attendance of customers from all over the world, and the interest shown for the latest innovations
we presented. The positive atmosphere at the trade fair, which transpired into new orders, as well
as the possibility of developing new projects and partnerships, allows us to now look to the future
with renewed trust and optimism.”
Michele Riva, Sales Director at We R Reggiani, also demonstrated his appreciation for the
results at the trade fair. “ITMA 2011 provided us with an opportunity to present our entire group
to the market (Reggiani Macchine – Jaeggli Meccanotessile – Mezzera – RPR – MTS). The contacts and
orders we established, above all from Western markets, largely exceeded our expectations.”
Satisfaction for the results obtained at the fair was generally shared by all Italian
exhibitors, who recorded an impressive number of contacts from South America, India and Turkey.
“The high number of Italian visitors confirms the healthy state of Italy’s textile sector,” adds
Salmoiraghi, “and provides the groundwork for the next edition of ITMA, to be held in Milan from
12th to 19th November, 2015.”
In fact, with the Spanish edition of ITMA now archived, organizers already looking ahead to
ITMA 2015. “We’ve already established contacts with the authorities in Milan and the event’s
primary stakeholders,” concludes Acimit’s president, “in an effort to possibly make of ITMA an
event that is even more worthy of its name. We especially appreciated the visit to Barcelona of
Franco D’Alfonso, the Councillor for Trade, Productive Activities, Tourism and Territorial
Marketing for the City of Milan, whose presence bore witness to the commitment and attention Milan
intends to reserve to ITMA 2015.”
Posted on October 11, 2011
Source: ACIMIT
