Exhibition World Supplements Italy Supplement | Page 4

Italy Supplement
IMPROVING THE
VISITOR ‘INNOVATION
EXPERIENCE’
THROUGH ART AND
CULTURE
PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT AND
DIRECTOR OF THE TRADE SHOWS
OBSERVATORY, BOCCONI UNIVERSITY, MILAN
FRANCESCA GOLFETTO
Art and
culture
enhances
Italian
trade
shows
collectively
4
Issue 2
2018
In Italy, many exhibition
venues are located in areas
of considerable cultural
and artistic interest. The
experience offered to visitors
and exhibitors by cities such
as Florence, Bologna, Verona
and Milan is extremely rich
in terms of tourism and
relaxation. However, the
contribution of art and culture
is not limited to the leisure
areas outside the exhibition
venue. It is part of the
organisation of Italian events,
which inspire the vision of the
visitors and the creativity of
the exhibitors.
The history of trade shows
in Italy goes back a long way.
Many Italian towns were
at the centre of cultural
and commercial exchanges
in much of Europe in
medieval times (Milan as an
example was once known as
Mediolanum), informing their
business practices to this day.
The culture of the town square,
where the fi rst regular markets
– the forerunners of today’s
trade shows – were held is also
the culture of the ‘bella fi gura’
(making a good impression).
Italy’s current strengths are
rooted in the refi ned cultures
of those who arrived in these
lands in pre-Roman times and
through exchanges with other
cultures developed expertise in
art, architecture, craftsmanship
and manufacturing that is
still recognised as unique
throughout our world.
Cultural and artistic skills at
the exhibitor stands
Stands offer the recurring
opportunity for buyers to
assess suppliers’ ability to
stay at the cutting-edge of
innovation and whether they
merit trust for the coming year.
The comparisons made by
buyers – a ritual repeated
when new products are
introduced – is not based on
price or features (which can
be easily checked online), but
primarily on the supplier-
exhibitor partnership
and innovation, i.e. on the
capacity to offer the buyer
specialised skills, technological
and stylistic innovations
with specifi c applications,
knowledge of consumption
trends, etc. Consequently,
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