The attendance figures also show that China, Korea, Thailand and Japan were the top five Asian sources for visitors from outside the host island state of Hong Kong, with a total of 64% of the total visitor numbers being international attendees.
Those international visitors accounted for 38,059 people through the doors, which was up by 1.3% on the previous year and also included individuals from 93 non-Asian countries.
Visitor numbers from USA, Europe and emerging countries on the up
In particular, attendance was up from countries such as the USA and a number of European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Hungary and Sweden, whereas increased numbers were also seen from emerging markets such as Turkey, Myanmar, South Africa and Turkey.
The organisers believe that the strong turnout in international visitors was brought about by the emphasis on both group and national pavilions on the show floor, which this year numbered 22 in total.
The biggest was the Korean Pavilion, which accounted for more than 2,700 square metres of space, whereas the second biggest was the Italian pavilion, with over 2,300 square metres.
New this year was the California Trade Alliance pavilion, which featured 8 companies from the US state.
Connecting brands with retailers
“We are aiming to expand our products to the Asia market,” said Jason Kim, general manager of A. True, a cosmetic brand holder based in Korea.
“We are so happy that we already got a lot of meetings with big buyers like Watsons and Sasa. Being in Cosmoprof Asia is fantastic because the visitors are real professional buyers. We’ve already met several buyers who have a high desire to carry our products”
This year the show also built on its other attractions, which included a bigger and more comprehensive seminar programme, together with the newly introduced Spot On Beauty area, design to provide a launch pad for new and innovative brands on the market.
The show floor also included a Nails In The Spotlight section, a dedicated zone that presented the offerings of over 120 in the nail care and related accessories category.