Shows Going Strong in 2002

   CarraraMarmotec in Carrara, Italy, showed good results for its 23rd materials and equipment fair in late May and early June. Show organizers report a total attendance of 33,199 for the four-day run, with more than 5,000 attendees coming from outside Italy to see more than 700 exhibiting companies.
   The Carrara event also managed to attract new interest in the stone trade. A show survey revealed 24 percent of foreign visitors and 40 percent of the domestic attendees came to Carrara for the first time.
   Earlier in May, Madrid’s PIEDRA industry fair made a strong showing, attracting 23,607 “independent professionals” – a 27-percent increase from the last edition of the show in 2000.
   The four-day biennial event brought a smaller number of attendees from beyond Spain’s borders – 1,779 – than Carrara. However, PIEDRA organizers note that the foreign total is 19-percent better than 2000 event figures.
   Coverings 2002, meanwhile, made significant improvements from last year’s event, with the 30,673 attendees in Orlando this May far surpassing the 25,000-plus seen in New Orleans in 2001. Orlando’s attendance breakdown also showed that 21,641 of those at the show were verified trade attendees, with the rest of the total coming from press and exhibitor ranks.
   Coverings also scored well in attracting foreign visitors, with 30-percent of attendees coming from outside the United States.
   May also proved to be the right time for Project Lebanon 2002 in Beirut, with the five-day show attracting 19,483 trade visitors. The event, which included Stone Middle East 2002, brought 1,922 foreign attendees.
   This year’s final quarter may be the most-telling as far as events, however. MARMOMACC, with a draw of more than 51,000 visitors last year, is Oct. 3-6 in Verona, Italy; the debut of the International Tile and Stone Show (ITSS) is set for Oct. 24-27 in Las Vegas.
   StonExpo 2002, meanwhile, will finish out the U.S. schedule this year on Dec. 5-7 in Baltimore.