Baselworld 2019 is history

Baselworld closed its doors on Wednesday, March 26. Michel Loris-Melikoff, Managing Director of Baselworld, concluded the show’s closing press conference  saying: “Baselworld 2019 is now history, and we look forward to 2020.”

Noting that 2019 was a year of transition for Baselworld, Melikoff reported that 520 brands had exhibited at Baselworld 2019. This year’s show was attended by 81,200 visitors, 22% fewer than in 2018. And with 3,300 media representatives present, these numbers were also lower than in 2018.

While regretting the general decline, Loris-Melikoff insisted that the quality of the visitors had been excellent. He expressed his confidence that the wished-for turnaround of Baselworld had begun with this year’s edition and that the outlook for 2020 was bright.

The show had lined up a number of exhibitors - from all industry segments – to speak at the press conference via video clips, all who reported good business transactions.

Loris-Melikoff said that the objective is to make Baselworld the most important community for the jewellery and watchmaking industry and transform it from a classic trade fair into an experience platform. “The target is to offer all participants in the industry – representatives of the watch, jewellery, precious stones and technology sectors as well as journalists, bloggers and influencers, but also dealers and collectors – a digital platform with numerous information, service and networking tools throughout the year.”