Around 63,000 visitors from 117 countries and 2,300 exhibitors ensured the successful re-launch of international textile fairs in Frankfurt, Germany, last week.

Across all three Messe Frankfurt events from June 21-24  – Techtextil, Texprocess and the one-time-only Heimtextil Summer Special – there was a palpable sense of energy and real pleasure to be returning to face-to-face business. Exhibitors reported brisk order activity and high satisfaction with the organisation in place.

The hangover from the Covid-19 pandemic put considerable obstacles in the way of exhibitors and visitors alike, in terms of delayed deliveries, long queues at airports and other infrastructural problems, but in the end, a determination for success overcame them.

In addition, despite ongoing travel restrictions, the three trade shows maintained their pre-pandemic level of internationality, with the notable exceptions of course – for wildly differing reasons – of China and Russia.

From outside Europe, Pakistan, India, South Korea and the USA were among the top visitor nations. Buyers from all over the world took the chance of the trade shows running in parallel for cross-networking and to initiate new business.

“As is the case for many other industries, times are challenging for the textile industry,” said Detlef Braun, Messe Frankfurt’s executive board member, in opening the show. “The consequences of Covid-19, the Ukraine war, strained supply chains, sustainability issues and rising energy prices and recruitment problems ensure the textile industry is under pressure from many sides.

“More than almost any other industry, however, it is also very adept at meeting these challenges with new ideas, developments and business models.”

“With a global value of approaching one trillion dollars and a predicted growth rate of more than 4.4 percent through to 2026, the textile industry is one of the most important global industries,” added Olaf Schmidt, Messe Frankfurt’s vice-president of textiles and textile technologies. “It remains a high-growth market that needs face-to-face interaction. In these times of massive supply chain disruptions, we provided the markets with our unique crossover at the most important international marketplace for product innovations at exactly the right time.”

All of the new developments at the three events will be widely reported over the next few weeks on Innovation in Textiles.

The next Heimtextil will take place from January 10-13 2023, and Techtextil and Texprocess will next be held from April 23 to 26, 2024.

www.techtextil.messefrankfurt.com