Full contact: Ambiente 2020

For Ambiente, contract business has clearly been growing in importance for some years now, especially the Living and Giving areas. While the retail sector in Europe and the USA is currently tending towards stagnation, the hotel and catering equipment sector is growing – all over the world. The reasons for this growth are tourism and a general increase in business travel, as well as developments in the real estate market. For example, the proportion of foreign travel has doubled globally since 2010. Taken together, all this has had a positive effect on Living and Giving in recent years, and subsequently on front of house business, which comprises all the things that are visible to hotel guests, restaurant visitors and catering customers.

Architects, interior decorators and contract outfitters will therefore not only find inspiration at the trade fair in Frankfurt – running from 7 to 11 February 2020 – they will also be able to find the right partners for specific projects, often involving substantial orders and large quantities. Those responsible for the furnishing of hotels, restaurants or cruise ships of course generally order objects in greater quantities – whether functional, decorative or both – for multiple rooms or tables. From crockery and cutlery, vases and carafes to a wide range of decorative accessories, these things are designed to delight guests and encourage them to return.

As the size of the order increases, so too does the responsibility of selecting the right items for their customer – in terms of aesthetic criteria as well as quality and durability. Here it is particularly important to not only decide on the basis of a catalogue or a visit to a website, but to also inspect the objects in person, to touch, feel and hold them in one’s hands. A trade fair like Ambiente has clear advantages in this respect, because personal contact is often the decisive factor: questions can be answered immediately, particular details related to the object itself can be explained. In addition, with such a wide range of the latest products in front of you, it is easier to recognise trends and to get a good overview of what is currently on the market in a short time.

For several years now, Ambiente has not only seen an increase in the number of hotel, restaurant and catering outfitters – who next year will be bundled together for the first time in Hall 6.0 – but also in the number of exhibitors focusing on the international contract business. In a recent interview, Yvonne Engelmann, Head of Living and Giving at Ambiente, emphasised the international orientation of the fair, at which 4,460 exhibitors from 92 countries were present in 2019: ‘Buyers from the contract business sector will find an attractive range of international brands in Frankfurt. Around 60 percent of exhibitors from the contract business at Ambiente are international. Well-known companies such as Giobagnara, Normann Copenhagen and Dôme Deco will be presenting a range of sophisticated products and furnishing concepts in February 2020, especially for the design and decoration of commercial spaces.’

The Contract and HoReCa Guide will be available next year as usual to help buyers and decision-makers from the hospitality and contract sectors find the exhibitors they need. These will be marked with a special label on the exhibition stand, indicating quickly and clearly that they have proven experience in equipping commercial properties. The print version of the guide will, of course, be available free of charge throughout the exhibition grounds during Ambiente.

The ‘Ambiente Navigator’ app will again be available for smartphones and tablets: As a digital trade fair companion, it will be available for download from Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store a few weeks prior to the trade fair. This means you can comfortably plan your visit to the fair from your office or home, call up all the information which is important to you, and even make appointments with exhibitors in advance. And it's already worth visiting the ambiente.messefrankfurt.com website, which contains numerous articles, testimonials, video interviews, a blog and lots of tips on everything worth knowing about Ambiente 2020.

© Architonic