The 93 exhibitors (45 from Italy, 45 from other European countries and 3 from Turkey) had a very satisfactory show, meeting the event head on with tireless entrepreneurial energy and serene optimism. If we take a look at attendance, though, we do see a slight drop in the number of visitors, which came in at 6231, with 2042 Italians accounting for 32.78%, and 4189 foreigners, equating to 67.22%. In other words, for every three visitors to Villa Erba, two were foreign nationals.

An analysis of foreign company attendance figures gives another significant result, with a total of 3414 showing a 3.51% increase compared to 2014. The lower number of Italian companies unfortunately confirms a steady generalized drop in domestic consumption, with visits from Italian businesses down 11% on 2014.

On the other hand, 71 Chinese companies came to the event, 34% more than last year's 53, though the actual number of people stayed the same (195). Given the current geopolitical upheaval, the number of Russian travellers understandably fell by 25%. Going down the list of nationalities in the table, we find numbers were up for visitors from France, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden. With the addition of three Turkish exhibitors this year, an increase in the number of visitors from Asia Minor was to be expected, going from 48 last year to 143 this year, up by an impressive 198%.

After Italy, the top ranking countries when it comes to attendance numbers were, in order: Germany (565), Great Britain (559), USA (381), France (286) and Spain (214). In terms of what categories visitors fell into, we saw the most revealing increase in the large distribution chains, with numbers going from 283 in 2014 to 356 this year, at the expense of converters, whose numbers instead dropped from last year's 611 to 474. There was virtually no change in the percentages for the other four categories of visitors: textile editors, upholstered furniture manufacturers, contract operators and wholesalers. We would like to remind the press that Proposte is only open to visitors who have been invited by one or more exhibitors and who belong to one of the six above-mentioned business categories.

Proposte's chairman, Piercarlo Viganò, and vice-chairman Mauro Cavelli, both exhibitors, sat at the speakers' table. Temporary - and very welcome - guests included the mayor of Cernobbio, Paolo Furgoni; Claudio Marenzi, chairman of SMI, the federation of Italian textile and fashion industry associations; and Mr. ZhaoHua Yang, chairman of the China Home Textile Association, who also held a seminar on the 29th of April to introduce the press and operators to the channels selling European products in the Chinese market.