40,000 attendees at Surfaces 2007

Apr 16, 2007

16/04/07 - Surfaces 2007, the coverings exhibition held from 7 to 9 February in the Sands Expo &Convention Center in Las Vegas, was a big success in terms of attendance.

The event attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals and hosted more than 1,000 exhibitors including manufacturers of carpet, rugs, ceramic tiles, parquet, laminate and resilient flooring, natural stone and various accessories in a net exhibition space of more than 48,000 square metres.

In reality, however, relatively few international ceramic tile manufacturers took part in the show. Foreign exhibitors were limited to a small Spanish pavilion, a few Italian companies (with a scaled-down presence) and several South American groups (but no Brazilian producers).

Perhaps because of the dominating presence of the large-scale generic surface coverings distributors or the geographical location of the show, which serves the west coast region where the impact of low-cost imports from Asia is greatest, Surfaces has lost much of its importance as a showcase for individual producer companies in spite of remaining the second-largest show in America in terms of size.
In any case, materials other than ceramic tile remain prevalent at the show.