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Hostelco, the International Exhibition of Equipment, Machinery and Services for Catering, Hospitality and Collectivities, will expand its offering and create new areas with a new conceptualisation of the exhibition space. It will also integrate new activities dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge, with a focus on hospitality business, interior design and generation of experiences. The fact that it takes place next to the Alimentaria trade show, will turn it into one of the largest trade show platforms in the world of hospitality and food.

Hostelco, organised by Fira de Barcelona and The Spanish Federation of Associations of Equipment Manufacturers for the Hospitality and Related Industries (FELAC) – is preparing its next edition to be held from 20 to 23 April 2020, in the Gran Via venue jointly with the Alimentaria trade show. In this way, both fairs will once again be a large industry platform presenting the most complete range of solutions and equipment, machinery, furniture, interior design, technology, food and gastronomy.

Hostelco 2020 will innovate with a redistribution of exhibition space designed to achieve greater integration with Restaurama (the Alimentaria industry dedicated to Food Service and Equipment), and thus enhance the synergies between both fairs. This new concept of space also aims to better guide professional visitors towards innovations, trends, products and innovative solutions for their businesses.

Thus, the fair will create 6 new areas with their own identity: Fully Equipped (equipment, machinery, accessories); Setting (household, table service); Everywhere (transport, delivery, vending); Moments (equipment and accessories for coffee, bar, bakery, pizza and pastry); Tech (technology and entertainment); Atmosphere (interior design, decoration, textiles, furniture, wellness).

By 2020, the supply of exclusive equipment and food for the Horeca industry is expected to exceed the 30,500 m2 it occupied in 2018, 63% with the catering equipment presented by Hostelco and 37% with food products for Restaurama’s Horeca industry.

The relationship between quality, environment and price is the new factor that increasingly influences decision-making when choosing an establishment dedicated to hospitality. In fact, it is a strategic variable that the hospitality industry uses to create experiences and thus attract and retain customers. Because of this, Hostelco will open Atmosphere, a new exhibition area with its own personality, dedicated exclusively to the creation of environments and the interior design of hotel establishments, restaurants, cafeterias and other areas of the Horeca industry. In this way, this new space will produce a Showroom with lighting products, textiles, decoration, furniture and even wellness, with spa or wellness facilities, to create environments that radiate serenity, originality and harmony, essential components that facilitate relationships, stimulate networking and boost business.

Atmosphere will also host new experimental areas: Hostelco Live Hotel and Hostelco Live Restaurant, which will recreate the main rooms of a hotel and a restaurant, and Hostelco Live Arena, an area dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge and trends, with workshops, demonstrations and conferences led by experts in digitalisation of processes and state-of-the-art equipment to discuss how to optimise resources and improve customer experience.

According to Mar Santarrufina, Director of Hostelco, “Atmosphere is a new initiative that responds to the Horeca industry’s need to create perfectly equipped environments and, at the same time, capable of generating positive emotions. The decoration, lighting, textiles, furniture, wellness equipment have the power to create a special atmosphere, capable of creating unique user experiences, becoming one of the key factors to stand out from the competition and increase business benefits. On the other hand,” she states that “all the industrial segments represented at the fair are strategic, and the essence of Hostelco is to globally promote the entire industry, creating new areas and inspiring activities, as well as spaces open to debate and industry knowledge aimed at Horeca industry professionals with innovative solutions applicable to their businesses”.

Once again this year, Hostelco Awards will award once the best facilities and projects for hotels and restaurants in 10 categories after considering a series of parameters such as innovation, interior design, resource management or profitability. Excellence will also be awarded in the categories of ‘Best Product’ and ‘Best Professional’ in the hospitality industry in 2019. The prizes will be awarded during the course of an event that will bring together the operators of the hospitality industry within the framework of the fair. On the occasion of the last event, among the most notable winners were The Hotel Melià Sitges Terramar, the Basquery restaurant, and José Alberto Callejo Silva, manager of Gastrobar KGB (Málaga), who received the Best Professional of the Year award.

The 128 companies integrated in The Spanish Federation of Associations of Equipment Manufacturers for the Hospitality and Related Industries, FELAC, in 2017 achieved a global turnover of 1,733.51 million euros, 11.2% more than in 2016, making it the fifth year of continuous growth. This is one of the results of the annual economic study prepared by FELAC in October 2018, which also shows that domestic sales in 2017 exceeded 873.93 million euros, which is 10.8% more than those registered in the year 2016.

Exports, meanwhile, rose to 859.58 million euros, registering an increase of 11.7% compared to 2016. Thus, one more year, the global export percentage came close to 50%, standing at 49.6%. Employment also increased, thus the number of workers in these 128 companies exceeded 9,300, representing 12% more compared to 2016.

On the occasion of the 2018 edition, Hostelco and Alimentaria had a total of 4,500 exhibiting companies and 150,000 visitors, 30% international visitors from 156 countries, becoming the largest European exhibition platform for products and services of the Horeca industry.