In the words of Dr. Alex Ploeg, Secretary General of Ornamental Fish International, “Participating in Aquarama every two years is like coming home to meet long-time friends and business partners. Aquarama 2011 was a very successful meeting of the industry…good for business and good for contacts.” For Malaysian exhibitor, Bukit Merah Aquaculture, Aquarama 2011 (26-29 May, Suntec Singapore) was “an excellent show”, while first-time exhibitor, Doshe Aquaristik, from Germany, “was very impressed with this exhibition”, and Philippine company, Animalia 2000 Ichiban Inc., felt it was “a fantastic show”.
These sentiments were echoed by many of those who attended this year’s glittering event. The organisers were encouraged by the fact that, despite the still-deep economic crisis affecting many countries and regions where substantial numbers of traditional attendees and exhibitors are based, Aquarama 2011 still pulled in the international trade from all corners of the globe. No fewer than 23 countries were represented among the exhibitors, while trade visitors came from an impressive total of 73 countries.
Just as in 2009, there was a ‘good-feel’ factor among the exhibitors, who maintained that the quality of the visitors and their genuine interest in doing business, more than made up for the more modest attendance figures. In their words, quality is always worth more than quantity.
Were this not to be the case, there’s no way that around 55% of this year’s exhibitors would have either already signed contracts for 2013, or taken options to do so. Equally, if the level of business had not matched expectations, no company in its right mind would reserve a larger booth for 2013, as some important exhibitors have already done.
Aquarama is, of course, much more than just a wide-ranging display of virtually every aquatic product you can think of. It is this, of course (and impressively so), but it also includes an unparalleled International Fish Competition, which this year received a staggering 1,355 entries, three brand new competitive elements, including a Freshwater nano Tank Competition, a free trade seminar programme consisting of three sessions and presented by top international speakers (deemed by many to be the best-ever staged at Aquarama), a fully subscribed Fish Farm Visit…and much else besides.
In the end, the organisers were justifiably pleased with the results. As Michiel Kruse, Managing Director of UBM Asia Singapore commented, “Organising an event as complex and important for the industry as Aquarama, always presents a stiff challenge. We are therefore delighted that the efforts of our hardworking team and the invaluable and unflinching support of the industry, has made it possible for us to stage an event worthy of the name ‘Aquarama’, especially at such a difficult time in world economics.”
To access further details of Aquarama 2011, and see a selection of this year’s photographs, visit the show’s website www.aquarama.com.sg. For details and reservations relating to Aquarama 2013, please contact Doris Woo, Sales Manager at doris.woo@ubm.com or Adeline Chang, Project Executive at adeline.chang@ubm.com
Aquarama 2013 will be held at Suntec, Singapore
30 May – 2 June 2013
