R+T Asia 2021: the show assessment and promising prospects for the next edition in 2022

Holding the physical trade fair in times marked by the pandemic, not only helped to foster the industry but also became an important test of its condition, revealing not only the readiness of the market in China, but turned out to be a great success for large group of exhibitors and visitors as well. 

Find out more about the figures from the post-show report and the development prospects for the sun shading systems and doors/gates industries in one the most dynamic markets in the world -  China.

Due to the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, for the first time in the history of R+T Asia almost all exhibitors and on-site visitors came from China. Despite of this fact, the total number of physical visitors in 2021 was higher than ever before, reaching over 42,000, explicitly underlining the booming domestic demand in China and creating greater opportunities in the Chinese market for domestic and international exhibitors.

As in the previous editions of the fair, the trade visitor groups with the strongest numbers, such as producers of finished products and semi-finished products, as well as wholesalers/distributors once again recorded continuous growth.

The transformation of sales and distribution channels taking place in the Chinese market in recent years was also reflected in the visitor structure of R+T Asia 2021 - many trade visitors visiting the fair for the first time were decorating companies, construction companies, real estate developers and designers.

At the same time, the on-site events and special exhibition areas focusing on residential, office and commercial real estates, hospitality and warehousing facilities, attracted a wide range of key trade visitors including contractors, architects, planners, interior designers, distributors and import/export traders.

The most popular products sourced in 2021

The growing interest in “outdoor living” and the demand to spend more time outdoors – also due to the pandemic, is an opportunity for external sun shading systems, which show the most significant growth in 2021 (6.4 percentage points compared to 2019*)

*Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

In the Door/Gate section, the most requested products in 2021 were industrial doors, garage doors and interior doors. The demand for these 3 products also grew over 2019*. The demand for other products in this section remained similar to the results of the last edition.

*Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

The highest visitor satisfaction rate

Visitor satisfaction rate has been increasing for three consecutive editions. According to the Visitor Post-Show Survey, in 2021 36% of visitors (+20 percentage points compared to 2019*) rated the event as "excellent", 22% of visitors as "very good" and 18.55% as “good “.

86.8% of the visitors who attended R+T Asia in 2021 confirmed that they will participate in the next edition of R+T Asia in 2022.

*Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

Assessment of the mood of the Chinese maket

The optimism linked to the current market situation of the Chinese market is evident. Compared to 2019 *, the number of visitors who assessed the current market situation in China as "very good" increased from 24.2% to 35.5% in 2021. At the same time 50.3% of respondents rated the current situation as "good" and 13.6% consider it "moderate".

* Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

The purpose of the visit

In 2021, 038.8% of visitors (+5.6 percentage points compared to 2019 *) declared that they attended the fair for purchase reasons, 36.6% of visitors attended to view new products and technologies. About 16% of visitors attended the fair in 2021 to evaluate it for future participation, which is 5 percentage points more than in 2019 * what confirms the strong position and unquestionable confidence in the R+T Asia trade fair in terms of organization and ROI.

  *Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

Export opportunities empowered by online solutions     

Online matchmaking sessions provided powerful opportunities for global buyers and R + T Asia’s exhibitors who attended matchmaking events .

The #MatchmakingDay, an online matchmaking session organized in Feb 2021, before the show, as well as the #MatchmakingEvent organized during the show in March 2021 attracted great attention from global buyers who had a chance to connect digitally with on-site exhibitors and talk about business opportunities. During the show, 146 short but intense video meetings allowed participants to meet each other and learn more about common interests.

*Source: Domestic Visitor Post-Show Survey 2019

An interactive online showcase (www.rtasiaconnect.net) provided additional digital brand and product exposure to increase exhibiting success without the limitations of time and travel.

Launched before the show, this virtual brand and product showcase allowed companies to highlight their presence also online. Exhibitors who decided to present their products digitally had an advantage in reaching global professionals in sun shading and door/gate industries without borders and without travel concerns.

In the first three months, the platform attracted thousands of unique visitors, within which 5k were returning visitors who interacted with displayed products and registered exhibitors. The content at rtasiaconnect.net is constantly being expanded.

Virtual Booth Tour: an unprecedented opportunity to reach visitors from all over the world

The first two days of the trade fair provided an overview of the situation at the booths at R + T Asia 2021. The presentations were streamed on Live Twitter in 4 live broadcast sessions, involving over 1.2 million total views online. The most attractive presentations created unprecedented business opportunities for exhibitors reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors simultaneously. Anyone who missed the live stream can still view the recorded videos by going to #Twitter and looking for @RTAsiaFair account or at www.rtasiaconnect.net/videos