TheMicam ends with drop in visitors

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Feb 20, 2015

The declines have continued for the Milanese footwear trade show TheMicam. Held on February 15-18 at the Rho Fiera exhibition center near Milan, the 79th edition of the event, presenting collections for fall-winter 2015/16, reported another drop in attendance, as in previous seasons.

In their closing press release, organizers announced  32,112 visitors as compared with 33,372 last year. There were more than 35,000 in March 2013... The number of foreign visitors in particular was down with 15,697 people as compared with 17,602 last year and 19,181 in March 2013. The number of visitors from the Russian region, from Russia and Ukraine in particular, was almost halved due to the crisis in Ukraine and the devaluation of the ruble. 

TheMicam, moreover, still doesn’t seem to have found exactly the right dates, the show ending this time a few days before the start of the Milan Fashion Week, which begins on February 25. 

The show noted, however, "the presence of large delegations from South East Asia and the rise of visitors from Spain, which has been confirmed as the country with the largest number of visitors, as well as Portugal." 

Spain and Portugal were also the foreign countries with the largest number of exhibitors, 208 and 98 respectively, followed by France with 48 exhibitors, the United Kingdom and Turkey (47), Brazil (40), and Germany (20). 

In total, the event brought together 1,516 exhibitors, including 887 Italians and 629 foreigners, in a 723,000 ft2 space. 

More positive news: the resurgence of Italian buyers. "For the first time, Italian attendance exceeded foreign, which hasn’t been the case since September 2011," the organizers stated without giving details. 

"It’s a very encouraging sign. Beyond the numbers, the most positive is the change in mindset, as we already saw in January at Pitti Uomo. For this latest edition of TheMicam, visitors seemed more optimistic. Buyers are confident in a recovery and are willing to increase their budgets," said Diego Rossetti, vice president of the Italian footwear association Assocalzaturifici.