Shenzhen World, in southern China, the world’s largest tradefair venue successfully hosted the world’s largest furniture exhibition 20-23 August. China has seen the return of exhibitions in recent weeks although most shows have seen significant reductions in size and attendance.
Organisers of the Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition (SIFE), together with the venue team, implemented strict safety protocols.
It was mandatory for attendees at the SIFE to keep social distance and wear face masks throughout the venue. Additionally, all visitors were obliged to be in possession of their respective green travel passes (mobile). A further combination of health measures, such as body temperature scanners, sanitisation stations and regular cleaning enabled the show to go forward in a safe environment.
The show boasted new product segments such as ‘Challenging Impossibility’ by Japanese residence master Sadao Tsuchiya and ‘WorkBox: Foreseeing the future 2025’. Popular brands, like Gensler, Vitra, Haworth and Vita Home took part in the show.
Exhibitor numbers for SIFE at Shenzhen World increased by 75% compared to the previous edition of the show, while visitor numbers increased by nearly 40% to 216,000. With 320,000sqm gross rented, the show was nearly three times the size of the previous edition.
Oliver Hou, executive chairman of the Shenzhen Furniture Association, the organiser of SIFE, said: “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 400,000sqm, the entire space of Shenzhen World.”
Mr Ma Jun, 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.”
Dr 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.”
