International garden and leisure ranges

Gafa, the International Garden Trade Fair, will be open for business between 31 August and 2 September. This event, held concurrently with Spoga, the International Trade Fair for Sports Goods, Camping Supplies and Garden Furniture, offers trade visitors from home and abroad a wide spectrum of garden and leisure products over an area of 260 000 m². Registrations for the three-day event last year totalled 47 500 trade visitors from 94 countries.
Around 1 200 exhibitors from 50 countries will be presenting their products and services in Halls 9.1, 10.2, 13 and 14 at this year’s Gafa. The spectrum will range from garden furnishings and ornaments, through to hand or motorised garden equipment and lawn-care products, as well as plants, irrigation and pond technology, greenhouses and accessories, plus fertilisers and care products, florists’ and pet supplies, road building technology and all kinds of services related to the sector.
Garden tools represent a strong segment at Gafa.
The range will be extended by the addition of the new category of operational technology for the garden trade, which combines the categories of shop fitting and warehousing facilities, merchandising systems and sales techniques that were already introduced last year.
Again approximately 65 per cent of suppliers will come to Cologne from abroad in 2003. Every continent is represented. Heading the EU countries is Italy (130 suppliers), followed by France (60), the Netherlands (55) and the United Kingdom (57). Also present will be China (70), Taiwan (55), the USA (36) and Japan (15). The east European states are likewise strongly represented by around 40 exhibitors. First-time guests in Cologne will include exhibitors from Romania, Singapore and Pakistan. Eleven European and Asian group presentations round off the international offering at this year’s event.
Versatile support activities
This year will again see innovative products displayed at the two special forums, “Motorised and garden tools” and “Barbecues, garden furniture and equipment”. A new feature is the introduction of a special “Point of sale” prize for the category of motorised and garden tools, which will be awarded for particularly creative sales concepts and marketing ideas. “Dream gardens: the successful presentation of garden ranges” is a show designed to provide inspiration and impetus centred on a variety of different gardens: created for the family, for purposes of relaxation or partying or delighting the senses, and all…