The 54th
international natural stone, technology and design exhibition is
scheduled 25-28 September
MARMOMAC
2019,
VERONAFIERE:
THE NATURAL STONE BUSINESS IS INCREASINGLY DIGITAL AND INTERNATIONAL
Verona, 30 May 2019
-
B2b meetings targeted by segment and type of use of natural stone
materials, an educational project for interior designers, expanding
digital developments and the international promotion network. These
are some of the new features in the line-up for Marmomac 2019,
scheduled at Veronafiere 25-28 September.
The most important
world exhibition dedicated to marble, granite, processing
technologies, applied design and training this year posts its 54th
edition, confirming it status as the leading event in the natural
stone sector. This value chain in 2018 saw trade of than 18 billion
interchanges globally; Italian industry ranks in the forefront as
regards added value of production, worth more than 4 billion euros
last year (73% thanks to exports*).
Marmomac enjoys a high
international profile, as confirmed by figures for the 2018 edition:
62% of the 1,616 exhibiting companies and 68,000 operators were
international, from 150 countries worldwide. This result is also the
outcome of collaboration with ICE-Italian
Trade Agency,
Confindustria
Marmomacchine and
the Veneto
Region as
regards international buyers.
“Marmomac is now
the landmark meeting platform for international natural stone system
professionals, where Italy plays a leading role,"
said Maurizio
Danese, President of Veronafiere.
Veronafiere's
goal is to consolidate the leadership of this brand thanks to the
guidelines in the new business plan through to 2022 which envisages
investments of 105 million euros that also focus on the growth of our
most successful formats."
Business opportunities
involving natural stone remain at the heart of the event and its
product
categories:
marble, natural stone, granite, agglomerates and conglomerates,
marble blocks, unhewn stone and large formats, processing machinery
and equipment, means of transport and lifting, abrasives,
diamond-cutting systems, chemical products and services.
With the aim of being
an increasingly effective business tool, Marmomac 2019 will hold b2b
meetings
with a “speed
dating”
format focusing on three areas (luxury/slabs/tools),
each with specific targets (architects/distributors/marble operators
and installation technicians) from countries including the United
States,
Canada,
the United Kingdom,
Russia,
China,
South
Africa,
Australia,
Germany,
Mozambique,
Turkey
and
Iran.
"Internationality
is one of Marmomac's development assets,"
said Giovanni
Mantovani, CEO of Veronafiere.
Starting
from the event in Verona, we have since created a global community
linked with natural stone products that today boasts roots in the
United States with StoneExpo and Brazil thanks to Vitória and
Cachoeiro Stone Fair. This is a continually expanding network which
we are now also keen to test even in Asian markets, with new
initiatives in Shanghai and Beijing."
The trade
growth
of the exhibition relies on fundamental aspects such as innovation,
design and training. This concept is represented at Marmomac by the
exhibitions highlighted in Hall 1 The
Italian Stone Theatre,
that brings together Italian research, experimentation, natural stone
and technology.
The
theme for the 2019 edition is Naturality
-
the naturalness of stone in its purest aspect which enhances
uniqueness
and
geodiversity,
as emphasized by the green
scenario alluding to the link between plant and mineral worlds.
A
concept also backed up reaffirmed by Marmomac through its membership
of Rete
PNA (Pietra Naturale autentica - Authentic Natural Stone Network) to
promote truly natural stone products.
Followings
its debut in 2018, The
Italian Stone Theatre welcomes
back Brand
& Stone 2.0,
the exhibition where major furniture and design brands (Antonio
Lupi,
Aston
Martin,
Baxter,
Casamania,
Horm
and Tonino Lamborghini Casa)
create specific projects for companies in the natural stone sector.
The Art
Ways
event also returns, where five artists experiment with computer
numerical stone processing technologies to produce works of art. The
concept of hortus
conclusus is
taken up in Lithic
Garden,
with the development of five settings providing a cross-section view
of the interior of a stone garden, while Natural
Things seeks
to rediscover the relationship between man and nature through eight
new design projects. The hall is also complemented by the Ristorante
d'Autore,
dedicated to gastronomic excellence in a setting that recalls rocky
landscapes, and the Wine
Bar.
The Young
Stone Project is
an event dedicated to young students and researchers. It brings
together stone material prototypes developed by six universities
(Bari, Bologna, Pescara, Rome, Venice and Verona) and the
Sant'Ambrogio
di Valpolicella School of Marble.
Special
emphasis is also given to architects.
The Marmomac
Academy organises
specific training and refresher courses that this year also focus on
the world of interior designers. One of the innovations at this
edition of Marmomac is an educational project focusing in particular
on interior
designers who,
thanks to three workshops,
can investigate the features of natural stone products in order to
propose this material more effectively among end customers.
Marmomac
2019 is even more digital,
in a context of supporting business as well as continually expansion
and diffusion of natural stone culture. First of all, a new App
integrates
with the geolocation system in all exhibition halls so that visitors
can save their favourite exhibitors, voice and text memos, as well
swap digital business cards.
B2in
is
an online platform for matching supply and demand where Italian and
international companies and buyers have the chance to meet each
other, organize appointments on stands and manage daily agendas.
The
online catalogue of exhibitors is increasingly interactive with
impressive content. Marmomac
Plus +people+products+projects this
year focuses even more on telling company stories and their project
portfolios.
Lastly,
Marmomac also welcomes back two awards: the
Icon Award identifies
the work displayed in The
Italian Stone Theatre that
will be used as the image for the 2020 promotional campaign, while
the Best
Communicator Award
acknowledges the care and originality that exhibiting companies
dedicate to their stand fittings.
*
(data source: Confindustria Marmomacchine Research Centre and 30th
World Stone Report edited by Carlo Montani and published by Aldus)
Veronafiere
Press Service
Contact France/Maghreb : AeP Consultants Sarl - pavone.angelo@orange.fr
