Exhibits Up, Turnout Dips at Coverings 2003

ORLANDO, Fla. – The massive Coverings 2003 event in late March ended up with a record amount of exhibits for the natural-stone, ceramic-tile and floor-coverings trade – but fewer people on the trade-show floor.
Preliminary figures from event organizers show a final attendee tally of 26,842, down 12.5 percent from last year’s record turnout of 30,695. Those at this year’s show, however, found the Orange County Convention Center packed with a record 1,452 exhibitors; the 512,000 ft² of exhibits showed a 9.5-percent increase from the 2002 event.
The event also faced unusual circumstances that likely affected attendance – mainly, the military action by the U.S./U.K.-led coalition armed forces in Iraq.
“Though the international situation caused a slight dip in overall attendance, the quality of those who came was excellent,” said Rick Church, chairman of the Coverings board of governors and executive director of the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA). “Considering what was going on in the outside world, the figures for Coverings 2003 are remarkable.”
International concern over travel safety probably affected non-U.S. visitors, where the show suffered its largest decline. Foreign attendance came in at less than 7,000 this year; in 2002, more than 9,000 international attendees appeared in Orlando.
Of the 18,892 professional trade attendees, the largest group – 43 percent – came from the distribution sector. Installers/contractors made up 13 percent; fabricators came in at 9 percent. Specifiers/designers, meanwhile, made up 6 percent of the total.
Kathy Taylor of Knoxville, Tenn.-based VIC International Corp. noted that, “this year’s show has been excellent. We’ve had a lot of interest in our new products.”
Coverings 2003 also included 106 workshops and seminars offered through Vision 2003, the Coverings’ conference program, as well as a series of keynote and theme speakers.
Next year’s event is scheduled for April 27-30, 2004, in the new exhibition space now being constructed across International Drive from the current convention center in Orlando.