Cersaie 2018 confirmed its status as an unmissable show for the worldwide ceramic tile and bathroom furnishing market with growing numbers of participants in the events organised specifically for architects, interior designers, installers, the media and end consumers.

The five-day show registered a total of 112,104 visitors, 0.4% more than in 2017. Numbers of international visitors grew by 1.6% to 54,025, while Italian visitor attendance fell slightly (-0.6%) with respect to the previous year to 58,079, equivalent to a 51.8% share of the total.

The 161,000 square metres of exhibition space was fully sold out several months in advance, despite the availability of an additional 5,000 square metres in the new halls 28, 29 and 30, which proved entirely adequate for the needs of an international exhibition on the scale of Cersaie. A total of 840 exhibitors took part, including 314 non-Italian companies – more than a third of the total – from 40 different countries. Ceramic tile was the best represented sector with 452 companies, followed by bathroom furnishings with 181 exhibitors, a figure that confirmed the importance of this segment at the show.

The Europa Auditorium was packed to capacity with an audience of 1,800 for the Keynote Lecture given by Pritzker Prize laureate Richard Rogers as part of the Building, Dwelling, Thinking programme. All the cultural events held in the Architecture Gallery were strongly attended, including a fascinating conversation between the two master architects Mario Botta and Guido Canali.

Again, this year Cersaie for Students attracted the participation of more than 3,100 high school and university students, who took part in meetings on ceramic design and the lesson in reverse given by photographer Silvia Camporesi, which was attended by an audience of more than 1,000 students.

The enormous media interest in Cersaie was demonstrated by the presence of 889 journalists (510 Italian and 379 international) during the five days of the show and by the packed-out conversation events held in the 13 Press Cafés, where magazine editors discussed themes of topical interest with guests from the world of design and architecture.

The partnership with Bologna Design Week, now in its fourth year, offered a packed programme of evening events in the city of Bologna, centred around the headquarters in Palazzo Isolani. These events proved a big success with visitors to Cersaie and will be further developed in the coming years.

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