Bologna – A Travel Destination with a Thriving Industrial Heart

The summer tour continues. Trade Fair Trips introduced you to Italy in our last post and now it’s time to move on the sunny, fashionable Milan, which has been on the mouths of everyone since the dawn of time. If you’re not familiar with our series, we’re taking you on short trips through major countries known to host some of the world’s most important exhibitions and trade fairs. On our list, we’ve already checked the boxes for the industrious Germany and are still dreaming of the picturesque France. Today, though, we have a particular destination in mind – the lively and highly developed Bologna. Before we progress to the trade fairs we’ve selected for you, it’s time to talk a little bit about Bologna as a city, which at first appears small and more of a tourist destination than anything else. If you look at the population, you’ll see there are 400,000 in the city (1 million, if you’re interested in counting the metropolitan area). Hardly Paris, Berlin or London by any extent! At the same time, Bologna has established itself as an industrial complex. Agriculture turned into food production and engineering and this industrialization established manufacturing, textiles, mechanics and automated machinery hubs. Bologna might be small, but it’s a strong economic engine.

It’s no surprise that Bologna is also a major business and trade centre with both retail and wholesale trade strongly represented at CenterGross, the large-scale organised trading district. This has in itself extended into a successful role as a host for a variety of trade fairs. Revenue is also generated thanks to the city’s appeal and status as a travel destination.

The Fiera di Bologna, as it’s called in Italian, boasts immense facilities that place it high on the list of exhibition centres around the world – sprawling at 375,000 square meters. These, of course, include both indoor and outdoor spaces. All this space is then segmented into 18 halls that are distinct in their design and size, but all guarantee air conditioning and IT systems to tackle any audio-visual requirements. The center is easily accessible through five entrances and even has its own railway station and helicopter pad.

Given these statistics, it’s no surprise this exhibition centre sees a lot of action. Tallying up all numbers reveal the following. There are 28 significant media events each year. For 2011, this places all exhibitors at over 13,000 and trade visitors at over 1,715,000. These number have since then only been on the rise. Below, you’ll find a short list of the most representative trade fairs tied to the city and its culture.

BOLOGNA CHILDREN'S BOOK FAIR: A cultural mainstay on the city’s calendar, the long-running trade fair will premier its newest lineup of authors and publishers in April. Over 50 years of experience have gone into turning this event into one of the most significant for its sector worldwide. In attendance you have thousands upon thousands of illustrators, graphic designers, literary agents, publishers, authors, translators, packagers and printers!

COSMOFARMA: With a diverse and packed program, this traditional trade fair is set to open its doors in May to close to 400 exhibitors representing more than 1000 brands and over 31,000 trade visitors involved in the healthcare and beauty care sectors. Among the variety of business opportunities to generate sales leads and build a reputation, there’s also the chance to enroll into high-level training and improve your skills.

COSMOPROF WORLDWIDE BOLOGNA: Rolling out in March, this trade fair has a large following in Europe and is celebrating 50 years presenting the hottest trends in beauty products, cosmetics and wellness. As an international platform, it’s a key access point to new markets you may wish to conquer, a convenient means to meet current clients to strengthen existing partnerships and research your competition.

If you’ve found the industry event for you in our representative list, be sure to get in touch so Trade Fair Trips ltd can help organize your travel arrangements. Our service is flexible, which makes it suitable for every preference in location and price category. Our mission is to get you to the hotel you want. If you haven’t found a trade fair or exhibition to your liking, we have a lot more where these came from. Just write us to get top deals for Italy and everywhere else in the world!

Stay tuned for next week’s post as Trade Fair Trips will take you to one of the most beautiful cities in Italy – Milan!