March 17 meeting to “define” Samoter

Verona Fiere, the organiser of the Samoter exhibition, has called a meeting on March 17 to discuss this year’s exhibition with trade associations and exhibitors. The weak Italian construction equipment market and a growing calendar of international equipment exhibitions have cast doubt on this year’s show.

Samoter is held every three years in Verona, Italy, and is scheduled to take place this year from 8 – 11 May. Samoter will be held together with the Asphaltica infrastructure and road safety exhibition. The last time Samoter was held in 2011 it attracted 98,000 visitors from 110 countries. There were 900 exhibitors at the show, taking 109,000 m² of space.

However, the weak Italian construction equipment market is one factor that has thrown this year’s exhibition into doubt. According to Italian trade association UNACEA, the Italian construction equipment market fell -18% last year to 6,192 machines. It was the sixth consecutive year of declining sales, from a pre-crisis high of more than 30,000 machines per year.

Commenting on the situation Verona Fiere CEO Giovanni Mantovani said, “We can overcome the crisis together. Our role is to organise exhibitions at the service of the company system. For this reason, we have made a major investment on the domestic market and for incoming trade delegations.”

A statement from Verona Fiere said it expected delegations to this year’s Samoter from more than 23 countries. It said the March 17 meeting was to “Define together, given the continuing and heavy crisis still affecting the sector, the overall proposal and distinctive profile of the 29^th edition of Samoter and Asphaltica.”