Las Vegas will be home to the largest and best-known American event dedicated to the natural stone sector, scheduled 25-27 January 2011, with attendance by important Italian companies from the Veneto and Trentino districts under the coordination of VeronaFiere. Strategic collaboration between StonExpo and Marmomacc is strengthened and also upgraded with Surfaces, the important exhibition dedicated to the cladding materials industry. Verona: December 2010. Important confirmations for Italian companies in the natural stone field operating on markets across the Atlantic are awaited from the next edition of StoneExpo Marmomacc Americas, scheduled in Las Vegas 25-27 January 2011. The exhibition event - the outcome of the strategic collaboration agreement between VeronaFiere through Marmomacc (www.marmomacc.com), the world-leading exhibition in the sector, and Hanley Wood Exhibitions - is further enhanced by Surfaces, the important exhibition dedicated to the cladding materials industry in the direct-show portfolio of HWE, and Las Vegas Market, an event dedicated to interior furnishing that will attract buyers, architects and trade operators to the capital of Nevada. StonExpo Marmomacc Americas and Surfaces are a landmark appointment in the United States and Canada. Coordinated by VeronaFiere in a specific show area, the events will embrace many other different initiatives, with special emphasis on training for North American architects who will also benefit from important collective Italian attendance by districts from the Veneto and Trentino. Las Vegas welcomes a double appointment as a further commercial opportunity for Italian companies attending the American event. There will be more than 900 exhibitors at StoneExpo Marmomacc Americas and Surfaces and the shows are scheduled alongside another event named “Las Vegas Market” which every year attracts as many as 40,000 designers and interior designers. HWE has signed an agreement with the organisers of Las Vegas Market whereby professional visitors may access all three events with a single entrance ticket and a free shuttle bus service linking the two exhibition centres. Overall, the potential number of visitors for SMA comes to around 70,000 people. The close agreement between Marmomacc and the US event is all the more important in the light of the upturn in economic parameters on the US market - one of the references for the Italian stone industry. In the first six months of this year, the US market, in accordance with ISTAT data processed by Verona Chamber of Commerce, imported processed and semi-finished Italian products worth 102.2 million Euro against 101.5 millions in the first half-year 2009, posting growth of 0.7%. Veronese companies handled more than 25% of processed and semi-finished materials exported to North America. Exports of processed and semi-finished stone materials to Canada also improved to 19.4 million Euro against 14 million Euro (+42.7%). There was also a good increase in exports to Mexico coming in the first half-year 2010 to 5.1 million Euro against 3.5 million Euro (+42.7%).
