Shenzhen World successfully hosted the world’s largest furniture exhibition

08.09.2020

Shenzhen World, the largest trade fair venue globally, has successfully hosted the Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition, which took place from August 20 until 23. With the gradual reopening of the exhibition business in China by the central Government many venues have restarted operations. To date, however, most shows have seen significant reductions in size and attendance.

In accordance with local health regulations, Shenzhen World together with the organizer of the Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition implemented strict safety protocols. For attendees, social distance keeping and the wearing of face-covering masks throughout the entire venue were mandatory. Additionally, all attendees were obliged to be in possession of their respective green travel passes (mobile). A further combination of health measures, such as body temperature scanners, sanitization stations and regular cleaning enabled the show to go forward in a safe environment.

The event’s overwhelming success can, amongst other factors, also be attributed to the new product segments which were introduced this year, such as "Challenging Impossibility" by Japanese residence master Sadao Tsuchiya, or “WorkBox: Foreseeing the future 2025”. In addition, a number of world leading brands, like Gensler, Vitra, Haworth or Vita Home took part in the show.

As a result, Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition, in its first edition in Shenzhen World, advanced to the largest furniture show globally. Exhibitor numbers increased by 75% compared to the previous edition of the show, whilst visitor numbers increased by nearly 40% to 216.000. With 320.000 gross m² and more than 140.000 net rented m² the size of the show nearly tripled.

Oliver Hou, executive chairman of the Shenzhen Furniture Association, the organizer of Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition, expressed that he was extremely pleased with the outcome of the show. “In the current circumstances we did not expect such an overwhelming success, but buyer interest was very high and thus the show succeeded much better than expected. For the next edition of the show in 2021 we expect that the show will use 400.000m², the entire space of Shenzhen World.”

Mr. Yun Ma, president and CEO of Shenzhen World, said: “Hosting such a big show was a challenge for us but also very rewarding. Shenzhen World, with its ample hall space, its large boulevards, its grand meeting rooms and vast F&B areas is the only venue globally which can host such shows and we are proud that the entire event took place smoothly and so successfully”.

Gerd Weber, partner at jwc, said: “It is clear that when we at jwc developed the Master Plan for Shenzhen World, we did not foresee the extent of a Covid-19 situation. But of course, seeing today that Shenzhen World was capable to host an event of this size in the current circumstances, gives us great satisfaction and confirms our venue development philosophy”.