However for 2012, I recommend Vitoria Stone Fair in Brazil, the countries economy is booming, the World Cup and the Olympics will certainly keep them in the spotlight during the following years.
Regarding 2012 stone trade shows, Piedra 2012, after the 2011 leap year, lets hope it is much better than the 2010. The last Piedra fair was a great deception for many visitors.
My List of the most important International Stone fairs in the World:
- STONA 2012 - Bengaluru, India (1st-4 th of February 2012)
- VITÓRIA STONE FAIR- Vitória, Brazil (7th-10th of February 2012): 33rd Edition
- TECHNO STONE - Kiev, Ukraine (29th February til 2nd of March 2012)
- STONE XIAMEN - Xiamen, China (6th-9th of March2012)
- MARBLE 2012 - Izmir, Turkey (26th -29th of March 2012)
- COVERINGS- Orlando, USA (17th-20th of April 2012)
- STONETECH - Shangai, China (25th-28rd of April 2012)
- THE NATURAL STONE 2012 - London -Great Britain (30th April to 2nd of May 2012)
- PIEDRA - Madrid Spain (8th til 12th of May 2012)
- CARRARA MARMOTEC- Carrara, Italy (23rd-26th of May 2012)
- EXPOSTONE - Moscow, Russia (19th - 22nd of June 2012)
- INTERBUILD EGYPT - Cairo, Egypt ( 21st -26th of June 2012)
- BUILD ASIA 2011 - Karachi, Pakistan (11th-13th of September 2012)
- MARMOMACC - Verona, Italy (26th-29th of September 2012) : 47th Edition
- KAMIEN- Wroclaw, Poland (7th-10th of November 2012)
- THE BIG FIVE - Dubai, U.A.E. (November 2012)
The great thing about the stone business is that change has been a part of it from the beginning, so I guess we all adapt quite quickly to it. The trends, the colours, the designs, everything is on the move, we have to just keep up with the market to be in the market.
These stone fairs are in my opinion some of the most important in the stone business, however a few of them are really considered global fairs. Selecting which you should attend as a visitor or as an exhibitor should really be done carefully.