Lots of registered participants, all the key players on board and many interesting newcomers.
The optics sector is already looking forward to its first highlight of the coming year: opti, the international trade show for optics & design, which takes place from 10 to 12 January 2014 at the fairground Messe München.
Munich, in the first week of October 2013 – The many international exhibitors are not the only ones looking forward eagerly to opti 2014. Dieter Dohr, CEO and President of GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH, the organizer of the show, reports: “Demand from exhibitors from Germany and abroad wanting to take part in this event remains strong.” All the key players in the market, plus exciting newcomers, will be presenting their products and services in the four exhibition halls at the fairground Messe München. Interest will as usual be high in the opti boxes, where start-up companies present themselves to the international trade audience, often for the first time. This section is being extended to twelve boxes in 2014, up from eight boxes in 2013.
More than 23,000 trade visitors from Germany and abroad will be looking to opti to kick off the year. Because this event offers a full review of all that´s happening in optics & design: lenses, contact lenses and frames, technical equipment, shopfittings and interior design. “opti is the international market place where the trade visitors can find – in January, right at the start of the year – all that they need for the next 12 months of business,” explains Dohr.
Around 500 exhibitors will be presenting their new products and innovations on 40,000 square metres of exhibition space. “opti has established itself as a platform for premieres right at the beginning of the year,” says Dohr. “Many companies have adapted their product cycles to opti, which means that Munich is the place to take a first look at lots of new ideas and developments.” Each year opti attracts more and more exhibitors and visitors from outside
Germany. The last opti featured 491 companies from 31 countries, and 23,243 trade visitors from more than 70 countries made the journey to Munich.1
Despite the extensive range on display at the show, this event is a compact and highly efficient forum for business, thanks to the clearly structured layout. For example, each hall has specific focuses and highlights: Gathered together in Hall C1, for example, are established lifestyle brands and attractive collections. Eagerly awaited (world) premieres in lenses and contact lenses are regularly presented by the exhibitors in Halls C2 and C3, which is also the place where visitors can find the sections on technical equipment, precision tools and low vision. Trendsetters and trend scouts come together in Hall C4, where innovative, unusual and original design ideas can be reviewed. Also on show are shopfittings and interior design, focusing on perfect presentation of products for opticians. Using specific examples – such as spectacle frames, contact lenses and accessories – exhibitors demonstrate how to present products to best effect, and even how to use certain scents to enhance the overall customer experience. And in the opti forum top speakers will be giving interesting lectures in which they present fresh ideas for use in day-to-day business, marketing and sales. Simultaneous interpretation (German/English) will be provided at all the talks.
Outside the halls, too, everything is within easy reach. Munich, one of the world’s most attractive destinations, is on the doorstep. Those who want to explore for themselves, after a busy day at the show, can take the underground railway (U-Bahn) direct from the exhibition centre into the heart of the city. The journey time is just 20 minutes.
