The event was initially scheduled for October 2013 but following the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in Nairobi, was postponed to 2014.
Alexander Angus, Montgomery's business development manager, commented, "The road to get here has been extremely difficult. The market is relatively new and inexperienced to trade exhibitions. Additional to this, we have had to combat the recent international perception of Kenya and terrorism, all adding up to a tough show to launch. However, the quality of trade visitors, the range of products that were displayed and most importantly, the feedback we got from our exhibitors, has made us delighted with the result."
Hostex East Africa welcomed exhibitors from China, Kenya, India, Netherlands, Tanzania, Thailand, South Africa, Spain, UAE and UK making it the most international hospitality exhibition that has occurred in East Africa. The exhibition's aim was to attract quality visitors over quantity and to provide tangible results for the exhibitors. This was achieved through the large marketing campaign that Montgomery ECO embarked upon, resulting in visitor quality beyond expectations. 84% of the visitors that attended the event made or influenced the purchasing decisions of their companies and 43% had an annual budget responsibility of over $50,000. An exhibitor, Kuki Aggarwal from Sunkist Investments in Arusha, Tanzania said. "We had a great experience in exhibiting at Hostex East Africa and from the results of the show, we will now be opening an office in Nairobi."
In running Hostex East Africa, the company drew on its success and experience of organising Hostex in Johannesburg and Cape Town. These exhibitions have been running for the past 26 years and bring the organisers a wealth of experience in the food service & hospitality sectors. The company also organises and manages Hotelympia in London, an exhibition which has an international audience of 33,000 attendees and over 800 exhibitors running 28 April - 1 May 2014.
After the success of the inaugural Hostex East Africa, it is expected that exhibitor numbers for the 2015 event will surpass the initial edition. Dates have been confirmed as the 12-14 May 2015 at the KICC in Nairobi. For more information, go to www.hostexeastafrica.com.
