EW speaks to UFI host Fondazione Fiera Milano, host of this year's UFI Congress, which took place last week.
The host for this year’s congress, Fondazione Fiera Milano, was established in January 2000 to support, promote and guide the development of the exhibition industry, as well as to oversee the transformation of the city’s exhibition system into a more modern, and internationally competitive facility.
Chief amongst its objectives was providing the Fiera Milano SpA Group and the country with an avant-garde exhibition infrastructure that would be on a par with major exhibition hubs around the world. And it certainly is that.
The non-profit Fondazione owns all the exhibition and congress assets of Gruppo Fiera Milano: the Fieramilano exhibition complex, the hotel facilities and executive offices at Rho-Pero, the new MiCo-Milano Congressi conference facility which is the largest in Europe and was built in the historical exhibition pavilions in Milan.
Since 3 July 2012 Fondazione Fiera Milano has been one of the shareholders of Arexpo SpA, a company entrusted with managing and upgrading the areas that are hosting Expo 2015.
Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Fiera Milano Spa, says Expo 2015 was an exceptional opportunity for visibility and international relationships for Milan and, more in general, for Italy.
“Expo leaves us with two benefits, one immaterial, the other material. The first is the credibility that Milan is capable of very efficiently organising and hosting events of global scope. Everything ran smoothly, even when we were hosting up to five international fairs at the same time as Expo in our exhibition district, alongside the Expo site.”
In a material sense, Peraboni says the work carried out on the road network for Expo has improved access to Fiera, doing away with queues “even when operator traffic is busiest”.
Fiera Milan’s big core business is B2B fairs, must-visit international appointments for industries such as furnishings, represented by ISaloni, to food, with TuttoFood and Host, one of the world’s leading professional hospitality shows. Others industries catered for include tourism (BIT); plant engineering and building (Mostra Convegno Expocomfort and Made Expo); machine tools for various industrial sectors (BiMu, EMO, Vitrum, Plast, Xylexpo); textiles (Milano Unica); fashion and accessory (MIPAP and Sposa Italia, Micam and Mipel); home (Homi); contemporary art (Miart) and many more.
Peraboni confidently proclaims that the sectors not represented on Fiera Milano’s calendar are “only a handful” today.
As to the development taking place in the city, Milan has changed significantly in recent years, and it continues to do so. Now it is focusing on converting an area with infrastructure occupied by Expo 2015, for six months.
“We are seeing great innovation, pushing Milan into the future,” says Peraboni. “Big areas in the city have been reshaped by a real urban planning revolution that has recuperated and transformed unused industrial areas. The road network has been greatly improved and public transport has seen an extension to the underground system.
Paolo Lombardi, the general manager of Fondazione Fiera Milano, says that in the next two years Fondazione will be committed to making the most of its real estate and cultural assets, growing Milan’s exhibition-congress system – managed by its subsidiary Fiera Milano Spa.
“On an international level, Fondazione Fiera Milano plays a very strategic role at UFI, which was established in Milan in 1925 by what was then Milan’s Ente Autonomo Fiera Internazionale,” says Lombardi.
The Fondazione is a member of the UFI executive committee, with chair responsibilities on the Educational Committee for the second consecutive term since November 2014. The next HR meeting is slated to take place in Milan as is the next UFI Education Award for employee training programmes, developed directly by UFI members.
And now, Fondazione is hosting the 82nd UFI annual conference – 90 years after UFI’s birth – at the MiCo-Milano Congressi facility. The city, and its established infrastructure, goes from strength to strength.
