<p> Final Press Release</p><p>SIA GUEST, THE HOTEL TRADE’S “HOME” GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH</p><p>On a scenario with considerable decline in hotel supplies, the 61st International Hospitality Exhibition drew 33,641 trade members. The overall figure fell 4%, but foreign participation rose by 3%.</p><p>The crisis is felt considerably, but SIA GUEST responds offering a convincing expo addressing a more qualified demand.</p><p>Rimini, 30th November 2011 – Innovation, internationality, academic training and very high profile visitors. These are the key points that distinguished the 61st edition of SIA GUEST International Hospitality Exhibition organized by Rimini Fiera with the sponsorship of Federalberghi and AIPI Italian Association of Interior Designers, held from 26th to 29th November.</p><p>Overall, although being held in a period in which the market is in declining considerably, SIA GUEST 2011 was nevertheless attended by 33,461 visitors (4% less than 2010). On the other hand, as far as foreign trade members were concerned, there was a higher figure: 3% more than twelve months ago.</p><p>In spite of a slight drop in the number of visitors, a substantial edition of SIA GUEST was thus held, with high quality contents in the expo area and an extraordinary response as far as participation of managers of the most important international hotel chains, Italian and international hospitality facilities and the most accredited designers was concerned. All the surveys, from the various sources, confirm this: tourist flow continues to grow even in a difficult economic context and rewards the high end of the hotel market, 4 and 5 star establishments on all continents. The key players of this area of the market have chosen SIA GUEST as their expo “home”. Concrete signs that enable Rimini Fiera to say that SIA GUEST 2011 offered a very convincing response to a market that is suffering and looking to latch on to growing markets.</p><p>SIA GUEST therefore hosted an exceptional range of visitors. These included top grade exponents of management luxury hotel chains such as Starwood, Relais&Chateaux, Gruppo Le Meridien, Park Hyatt - Milan, Principe di Savoia – Milan, Hotel Eden – Rome, Regina Hotel Baglioni – Rome, The Westin Palace – Milan, Aqualux Hotel Spa - Bardolino (VR), Castello Banfi Il Borgo - Montalcino (SI), Enterprise Hotel Milan, Grand Hotel & La Pace - Montecatini Terme (PT), Rome Cavalieri - The Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton Molino Stucky – Venezia, Hotel Quirinale – Rome, Manfredi Fine Hotel Collection – Rome, Visconti Palace – Rome, Villa La Massa - Candeli (FI), Sheraton Roma Hotel & Conference Center, Melià Roma Aurelia Antica, Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées – Stresa PullmanTimi Ama - Villasimius (CA), Hotel Splendide Royal – Lugano, Hotel Byron - Forte dei Marmi (LU), Hotel Albani Florence, Vestas Hotels & Resorts, Gruppo Marcegaglia per Pugnochiuso Resort - Vieste, Gruppo San Domenico Hotels, Hotel Lugano Dante, Hotel Berna – Milan, Europa Regina – Venice, Four Seasons – Florence, Hilton Worldwide, Accor Hotels, IHG Intercontinental Hotels Group, Exclusive Hotels of Italy, Armani Hotels & Resorts, etc.</p><p>Among the highly significant participants for SIA GUEST’s target, the EHMA - European Hotel Managers Association, which held the autumn meeting of its Italian Chapter. EHMA members are 450 managers of 5-star and luxury European hotels. SIA GUEST also hosted a delegation of the SBID, the Society of British Interior Design, lead by president Vanessa Brady. Not only that: national and international designers have chosen SIA GUEST as their favourite place for the comparison “in the field” of innovative ideas and suggestions and, fully in line with the market, those with low environmental impact.</p><p>Also worthy of note was the visit to the expo of Sumber Sinabutur, newly elected director of the Indonesian Trade Commission. An internationally important contribution was made to SIA GUEST by Anna Torres, general manager of HOTREC, the federation of hotel and restaurant associations in Europe.</p><p>SIA GUEST 2011 was inaugurated last Saturday with the participation of the president of Rimini Provincial Government Stefano Vitali, Rimini’s mayor Andrea Gnassi, the deputy vice chairman of Federalberghi Giuseppe Roscioli and Rimini Fiera chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni.</p><p>SIA GUEST also confirmed its role as a place with extraordinary media coverage. In the press room 270 journalists were accredited; television reports were transmitted by TG1 Economia, TG1 in prime time and TG5. National, regional and specialized press also gave the expo excellent coverage. Although after-expo reports still have to be counted, SIA GUEST attracted the attention of 157 press publications and resulted in 31.4 million contacts, calculated by estimating the Auditel, Audipress, Eurisko and Audiweb polls.</p><p>STATEMENTS Rimini Fiera chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni, states, “SIA GUEST is the only Italian expo that is so strongly oriented towards innovation in the supplies for hospitality facilities. Having defined our positioning, thanks to the participation of partners from the worlds of design and hotels of international importance, we are now working on complementing the expo with new ideas, because the issues of upgrading and greater energy efficiency stood out in a peremptory manner over the four days of the expo.”</p><p>Rimini Fiera business unit manager Simone Castelli comments, “We finished SIA GUEST with renewed confidence, because as well as the considerable participation, there was also satisfaction for the business generated at the expo. The expo really is the reference point for the key players that are part of the driving force of the tourist trade, the managers of hotel chains and 4- and 5-star hotels, who found their “home” in SIA GUEST, the place where the responses to their most demanding needs are concentrated, in terms of products and services”.</p><p>At the opening of SIA GUEST, the following are the statements of the authorities taking part: Stefano Vitali, president of Rimini Provincial Government, said, “This is a historical expo for our area and for Italy and as such can make a contribution to enabling tourism to take off as a real industry, for which innovation is absolutely imperative. We also need a valid strategic line of thought for the country, not one fragmented by regional strategies.”</p><p>Federalberghi’s deputy vice chairman Giuseppe Roscioli said “Federalberghi counts a lot on SIA GUEST, as it is a trade fair with the same DNA as us. We are tied to Rimini Fiera by strong bonds and the event is always under the banner of new technological solutions, to help us achieve the aim of being at the top in Europe for quality and hospitality.” “This expo has accompanied our town’s resurrection after the tremendous Second World War,” explained Andrea Gnassi, the Mayor of Rimini “managing to make it a real tourist capital. It now represents a reference point for new goals: environment quality and modernization of hospitality facilities. Without these horizons and these results it is impossible to face the competition on the international markets.”</p><p>THE LAYOUT SIA GUEST 2011, which occupied eight halls in the west wing of the expo centre, highlighted the proposals of 600 companies from the hotel supply world, with a great accent on innovation and design, showcase for international excellence in these sectors and a source of suggestions and ideas for trade members on the development trends the hospitality industry will have in coming years. The key players in the expo area were enterprises in Furniture and Decor, Contract, Bathrooms and Wellness, Interdecò, Equipment and systems for Foodservice, Technology and Services, Hotellerie.</p><p>EVENTS Two events played a particularly important role at SIA GUEST 2011. The conference “From hotel restaurants to restaurants in hotels”, at which there were very high-level discussions on how to transform a service into a new resource. Moderated by Enzo Vizzari, Managing Editor of the Guide de L’Espresso, the event hosted experts of the calibre of Paul Tribolet (Senior Vice President - Starwood and Director of Food & Beverage EMEA), Jaume Tapies (President - Relais & Chateaux), Marcel Levy (General Manager - Hotel Eden, Rome, Le Meridien Group), Claudio Ceccherelli (General Manager - Park Hyatt, Milan), Ezio Indiani (General Manager - Principe di Savoia, Milan) and Marco Milocco (General Manager - Regina Hotel Baglioni, Rome).</p><p>Another key event was the inaugural conference promoted by Federalberghi on the topic of Fire prevention in hotels. A very topical issue, commented from the point of view of hotel owners with Giuseppe Roscioli, deputy vice chairman of Federalberghi and of the fire brigade, with speeches by Dino Poggiali, (Provincial Commander, Rimini Fire Corps) as well as Fabio Dattilo (central executive, National Fire Corps). </p><p>On the opening day of SIA GUEST 2011 Federalberghi also announced the figures on the trends in Italian hotel tourism in the first ten months of the year: a 2.6% rise in tourists, with Italians up 1.3% and foreigners 5.4%. There were positive results for employment, with a 0.1% rise, between employees with a permanent contract and those with a fixed-term contract.</p><p>Also worth of note was the announcement of the agreement signed during SIA GUEST by Rimini Fiera and Agenzia CasaClima for the realization in 2012 of an expo section dedicated to energy saving in hotels, an issue of absolute priority in the process of upgrading and optimization of costs in Italian hotels.</p><p>INTERNATIONALITY The 61st SIA GUEST offered concrete business opportunities for exhibiting firms, thanks also to the presence of foreign buyers in the halls, key players of one to one meetings scheduled on the eve of the expo. The carefully selected buyers were from Germany, France, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Balkan area. Another important event during SIA GUEST was that promoted by Rimini Chamber of Commerce. i.e. two days of business meetings between local companies and potential clients, suppliers, commercial or industrial partners from the Homes-Construction sectors in Brazil, India, EAU, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. </p><p>NEW TRENDS The SIA TREND hall, dedicated to innovation, hosted the outstanding 100% Hotel, an exhibition-event conceived by CODE with the patronage of Apulia Regional Government and designed by Studio Gritti Rollo. An exhibition dedicated to what travellers note when they enter hotels, when guests have an initial impression of the local area’s identity. Eight real-life installations by the same number of design and interior design studios: Studio di architettura Luca Scacchetti, De-Signum Studio Lab, Studio Bizzarro & Partners, Studio De Ponte DPSA+D, Roberto Semprini. Another “must” for visitors was the experimental exhibition proposed in an area of 1,200 m2 by architect Simone Micheli. High altitude Hotels, with the patronage of Federalberghi, Town Council of Asiago, AMSI (Association of Italian Ski Instructors) and Italia Turismo, presented an effective full-scale simulation of a real oasis for nature lovers who do not intend missing out on comfort; a hotel able to host winter sports buffs.</p><p>Plus, in the I Love my Wellness area, The Wine SPAce exhibition promoted and coordinated the magazine Wellness Design, in which the personality of wine is interpreted and represented by means of the spatial language typical of architects. Green Life Hotel (concept by architect. Elisabetta Motta and architect Silvia Bruseghin) highlighted ideas for sustainability in hotels, such as Green Room (Studio Menichini). Hotel Spa Design proposed Love suite love, a project by Pietro Gaeta’s Now Architecture and Design Lab for a designer suite and Hotel Restaurants showcased innovative ideas for food & beverage areas in hotels, designed by (architect Alessio Cuzzolin – A70 Laboratorio di progettazione-Studio di architettura). SIA GUEST also hosted the annual appointment with the courses of academic training of the Milan Polytechnic’s POLI.Design Consortium, of which the expo is academic sponsor. The Hotel Experience Design and Bathroom Design courses were presented on the Technogym stand. </p><p>TRAINING SIA GUEST 2011 was also an opportunity for training and information for visiting trade members. There was great participation in the free seminars of the Hotel Management Week, organized by Teamwork, with the patronage of Federalberghi, dedicated to the issues of day-to-day importance for tourist trade members. 5-star training on the other hand was the title of a series of seminars programmed by Iscom Emilia Romagna, the training board of Confcommercio and Federalberghi Emilia Romagna. Also worthy of note were the tenth edition of the Rimini day of advanced updating for Hotel Managers, organized by the Associazione Direttori Albergo (ADA), the National Meeting of Federalberghi's Young Hoteliers, the Trademark Italia appointment on the prospects of the tourist market in 2012. Lastly, the traditional appointment with Legambiente Turismo and the updating of the activity of its affiliated ecologic hotel.</p><p>The appointment with the 62nd edition of SIA GUEST is from November 24th to 27th 2012</p><p>All the press releases prepared during the expo are available in the press area of the Web site</p><p>SIA GUEST 2011 AT A GLANCE Organizers: Rimini Fiera SpA; with the patronage of: Federalberghi and AIPI - Italian Interior Designers Association; frequency: annual; edition: 61st; category: international exhibition; admittance: trade members only; business unit manager: Simone Castelli; project manager: Nicola De Pizzo; admittance: full-price €22, 2-day season ticket €37, online €10; hours: 9.30am-6.00pm; last day: 9.30am-5.30pm; Visitors info: [email protected]; Web site: www.siarimini.com PRESS CONTACTS Rimini Fiera SpA communications & media relations service +39 0541 744510 [email protected] manager: Elisabetta Vitali; press office coordinator: Marco Forcellini; press staff: Alessandro Caprio and Francesco Tagliavini; media consultant: Cesare Trevisani, “Nuova Comunicazione Associati” - [email protected] – +39 335 7216314</p>