Hostelco, the trade show for equipment, machinery and services for the hotel and catering industry, is expanding its content with new sectors and special programmes aimed at buyers in order to consolidate business and boost the domestic market, which is increasingly active due to a rise in tourism. Along with the Gastronomic Forum and the Mass Catering Congress, Hostelco will incorporate Barcelona Hosting Week, an initiative which, over the course of four days, will position Barcelona as the capital of the hospitality industry.

From 23 to 26 October, the entire hospitality world will be represented at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via Exhibition Centre as part of the second edition of Barcelona Hosting Week, which provides a hugely important platform for the food and wine industry and features the sector's entire value chain, from equipment through to the production and distribution of products.

Taking place alongside Hostelco will be the Gastronomic Forum, the leading culinary gathering which this time round will be concentrating on the 'world of desserts' with contributions from Oriol Balaguer, Christian Escribà, Jordi Butron and Xano Saguer, amongst others. Renowned chefs such as Jordi Cruz, Carme Ruscalleda and the Torres brothers will also be taking part. They will all be conducting workshops and demonstrations to present new trends and techniques to professionals and end users alike. These events will also coincide with the Mass Catering Congress, the only event dedicated to industrial catering which is now in its second edition.

Hostelco – organised by Fira de Barcelona and the Spanish Federation of Hospitality and Catering Equipment Manufacturers (FELAC) – is taking place for the eighteenth time with the biggest-ever selection of products and services from the leading companies in the sector, 25% of which are from abroad, primarily the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Turkey and Portugal.

The event will present the latest developments across 11 sectors, with hospitality industry equipment and machinery being the most widely represented. Next come the sectors of cookware and tableware; Management, IT control, and safety and security Textiles and uniforms; Service companies; Furniture and decoration; Cleaning, equipment and products for laundry, dry cleaning and general cleaning and the Coffee Zone, as well as the new Patisserie, Bakery and Ice Cream sections.

Strong presence of strategic buyers
In response to sector demand, Hostelco 2016 is focusing its efforts on attracting some 1,100 key buyers from over 10 countries. Among them will be 300 Spanish distributors, for whom a special programme has been designed, with facilities and incentives to boost their presence at the show. Another important collective will be the purchasing managers from some 50 Spanish and foreign hotel, restaurant and service management chains who will meet up with exhibitors at Hostelco through a series of B2B meetings planned by the show.

La Plaza, the new epicentre of the show's activities
The burgeoning sectors of bakeries, patisseries and ice creams will be the stars of La Plaza, the new space that will host a full range of activities related to these products. The aim is to show the owners and managers of hotels, cafés and restaurants how to produce these products in-house artisanally and the benefits that come from this process in terms of both profitability and product quality. Several companies will be holding demonstrations to show exactly how to use their machines and appliances to get the optimum performance.

The Spanish market: a key factor in changing trends
The 126 companies that make up the Spanish Federation of Hospitality and Catering Equipment Manufacturers, FELAC, achieved a global turnover estimated at 1,306 million euros in 2014, 8% more than in 2013. According to the report produced by FELAC at the end of 2015, Spanish manufacturers, who have been used to seeing growth in foreign trade over recent years, saw the domestic market take off in 2014. This change in trend, partly due to the strong performance of the tourism industry, is of crucial importance to the sector.

demEAUmed project will be presented by the director of Samba Hotel, Mr. Eduard Coloma Boada!

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