Vinexpo 2017 show to drop to four days

By Erin Smith

Published: 19 June, 2015

Vinexpo closed its doors on 2015 yesterday and in the concluding press brief a new format for 2017 was announced taking the show from five days down to four.

The chairman of Vinexpo Xavier de Eizaguirre and Guillaume Deglise, Vinexpo's chief executive officer, made the announcement and said that the fair would now run Monday to Thursday. Sunday will no longer be a scheduled fair day.

This may be welcome news as many exhibitors who spoke to harpers.co.uk at Vinexpo 2015 said that Sunday was "a very quite day." This was despite President François Hollande's visit to the show on Sunday.

Vinexpo 2015 Vinexpo 2015

The official figures have not yet been released, but "overall, the number of visitors is on par with 2013," according to a statement released by Vinexpo. It added: "The number of French visitors showed a slight drop, compensated for by an increase of 2% in international visitors."

Chinese and American visitors accounted for the two top international visitor groups outside of France. Chinese visitors saw a 14% increase over the 2013 show, while the number of US buyers increased 14.5%. The US was the designate Country of Honour at Vinexpo 2015.

For De Eizaguirre attracting Chinese visitors is essential. He said: "China is the market for the future." But De Eizaguirre told harpers.co.uk having both the American and Chinese markets representation growing at the show is a postive sign particularly as both markets are of growing importance within the global wine trade.

"The show reflects the industry, which is very American and very Chinese focused. When I look back it's a reflection of what is happening in the market," said De Eizaguirre.

International visitors accounted for 36% of the total visitors to Vinexpo this year.

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