Salone del Mobile closes with 302,000 visitors, record foreign attendance

Another important aspect, Porro emphasises, is that of students, particularly foreign ones: 'This is the audience of the future and has increased by 38 per cent'.

There was also a great job of skimming the visitors, says the president, and the decision to divide the flow of operators into two, with the first three days dedicated exclusively to buyers and the last three also open to producers, worked. "This created the conditions for better work," says Porro, and his words are confirmed by those of many entrepreneurs we met.

"There has been an improvement in the flow of visitors, which is very positive for dedicating time to customers and making new contacts," says Giorgio Gobbi, managing director of the Dexelance group, which, with 12 companies in its portfolio, was present with nine stands at the fair. "We had a very good impression, both in terms of the number of visitors, which is growing, and in terms of quality, particularly at Euroluce, which was favoured by the new format and perhaps also by the downsizing of the German trade fairs in the sector.

"We sold more than usual, and I find that this year's fair had a better structure in terms of organisation. We should close with about 30,000 visitors to our stand, a third of which were of substance, which generated new business," confirms Daniele Lago, president and head of design at the Veneto-based company Lago. He also touches on another important point: "We also did good numbers in our new showroom in Via Durini, but the Salone is something else and we must hold on to it.

This is a very topical issue, at a time that has seen a number of important international events in the sector lose their lustre, including Imm Cologne, which has even cancelled the 2025 edition, and which is linked to that of the progressive "defections" from the Show of a number of historic Italian furniture brands, which have preferred to present their new collections in their own showrooms in the city centre. This is a delicate issue, which will have to be addressed if we want to maintain the international strength of a "design system" that in Italy can count on a supply chain (that of wood-furniture) that in 2024 generated a turnover of 51.7 billion euro and that in the Salone has an international showcase that is unrivalled to date.

Satisfied with the turnout, and the interested response from customers, even at the Frigerio stand, despite some initial scepticism, explains Riccardo Frigerio, R&D manager and third generation at the helm of the family business. "We strongly believe in the Salone, but the absence of some important companies is an issue. The Salone and the Fuorisalone live in osmosis and we must be careful not to lose this strength, this unity of our sector, although it is certainly a major effort for us companies, and not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of energy".

Lema presented its new image with a stand that was different in concept from previous years: 'It was a revolution for us, so we were a little worried, but I must say that it went very well,' says Angelo Meroni, managing director of the Brianza-based company. 'It was the year without Eurocucina, so as always happens there were fewer people on the stands. But we had many visitors from all over the world and we are satisfied.

Even in the city the numbers were positive, for those who chose not to participate with a stand at the fair. Luca Fuso, managing director of Cassina and Zanotta, was satisfied, estimating a 25% increase in the number of visitors to the via Durini shop compared to last year. A good first, so to speak, for Molteni&C, which exhibited its new collections for the first time this year in the seven-storey showroom on Via Manzini, which was opened to the public last December and officially inaugurated during Design Week.

As far as the city's numbers are concerned, 15 thousand visitors per day were recorded at the Pinacoteca di Brera (where Es Devlin's work, promoted by the Salone del Mobile, was on display), while as far as the Interni events were concerned, 250 thousand visitors were recorded at the Università Statale (against 240 thousand in the 2024 edition); at the Orto Botanico over 50 thousand (as in 2024), and at the Audi House of Progress at the Portrait 150 thousand (140 thousand in 2024).

The Fuorisalone.it events guide proposed online 1,066 events narrated on the site by more than 5,000 images produced by over 100 e.Reporters, students selected by the Politecnico di Milano and Northeastern University in Boston. Since the beginning of the year, the online audience has grown by 5% with more than 660 thousand unique users and more than 4 million page views, with visitors to the site coming from 166 different countries.