HONG KONG—Messe Frankfurt is pulling the plug on Hong Kong textile fair Interstoff to focus on its other trade events in mainland China.
The last edition of Interstoff took place Sept. 25-27 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Messe Frankfurt, which has staged the textile trade fair for almost 30 years, made the announcement at a party for exhibitors on Thursday evening.
Organizers pointed to the steady shift in textile manufacturing and fashion buying offices from Hong Kong to mainland China and said it planned to focus its attention on mainland China where its eight textile fairs were expanding rapidly.
“We believe by allocating more of our resources into China, the world’s textile consumption and manufacturing powerhouse and a hub for industry in the region, it can better accommodate exhibitors’ and visitors’ needs to expand their business into the wider Asian market,” said Detlef Braun, who is on the executive board of Messe Frankfurt.
Attendance at and interest in Interstoff has been waning for several years, but the announcement to cut Hong Kong out of the equation in favor of investing further in mainland China still came as a shock to many fair participants.
A good number of regular exhibitors who weren’t already exhibiting at Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fair said they would probably go there next year. Intertextile Shanghai, also organized by Messe Frankfurt, claims to be the largest textile trade fair in the world and last year drew more than 69,000 visitors from 98 countries and regions. Next year’s fair is expected to be even bigger and in expectation of the increase the upcoming spring edition will be moved to a larger venue, the National Exhibition and Convention Centre.