DanFish International will be held from 13-15 October in Aalborg in Denmark and up to 15,000 visitors from 48 countries are expected. World Fishing talked to sales manager Evan Dyren to find out what are the main attractions at this year''s exhibition.
Q: What are the main changes at DanFish from other years?
A: Due to the general situation in the global fishing industry, the exhibitors have been much more interested in what DanFish International can offer them this time round. They have been asking more questions about the specific exhibition, e.g., who are the other exhibitors? Where do they come from? Which type of products are going to be exhibited? What companies will be visiting? Exhibitors want to be sure that their investment in participating in the exhibition will pay off.
Q: What makes DanFish different from other exhibitions around the world?
A: If we compare DanFish to other exhibitions in this part of the world, I would say that the international share of both exhibitors and visitors is higher than in most of the other fishing fairs.
Q: How do you see the Danish fisheries industry at the moment?
In recent years there has been a dramatic change from many smaller wooden fishing boats to fewer, quite large and more efficient steel vessels. The situation in Denmark has been a struggle for some years, but it seems as if the situation is slowly improving. The equipment industry is well known over most of the world for its quality and price, and lots of Danish companies are doing well both in Denmark and in export markets abroad.
Q: What do you think Denmark has to offer to the rest of the world in terms of fishing?
A: High quality products at competitive prices.
Q: Which areas of the fishing industry have shown most interest in the show?
A: Interest in various elements of the show is the same as in previous years. However, as mentioned already, people are more careful about evaluating the possible benefits before a decision to participate is made.
Q: Are there any other events taking place around the exhibition time?
A: The "Sustainable Fisheries Seminar" is to be held on the opening day for the first time. The seminar is going to be officially opened by the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fishery Mr. Hans Christian Schmidt. All the municipalities from Greenland are also going to hold their annual Mayors' meeting at the exhibition centre during DanFish International.
Some 120 buyers and VIPs from 33 different countries around the world have been invited to attend the 3-day show. The VIPs have been carefully selected by The Danish Export Association and are one of the reasons for the high rate of trading and contracts signed during the exhibition.
Q: How many exhibitors will be at DanFish 2005?
A: We expect between 350-400 exhibitors and we are still receiving inquiries and contracts for the coming show. For example we are awaiting final details on individual exhibitors who will be in the Swedish, Faroe Isles and Italian pavilions. At the end of July we had exhibitors committed from 20 countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands, Canada, USA, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greenland, Ireland, the U.K., Holland, France and Belgium.
Q: How many visitors are you expecting?
A: We expect between 10,000--15,000 visitors. In 2003 we had 20,802 visitors from 48 countries. For the first time we will be charging visitors an entrance fee: if you buy at the gate without a pre-paid ticket the charge will be Danish Krone 150 (€20) if you pre-register on our website you will pay DKK 100 (ca. €14.50). As this is the first time we are charging an entrance fee we expect fewer visitors, but at the same time we believe this will produce a higher profile type of visitor.
