Third Edition of CARAT+ Postponed

The third edition of CARAT+, an exclusive diamond show in Antwerp scheduled for February 10-12 2019, has been postponed due to a lack of commitment to participate on the part of exhibitors and visitors, the organizers said.

As per reports, the show is just four months away and it has not yet received considerable number of participants. The organizer "concluded that it would be difficult to achieve the high-quality standards we impose on ourselves while meeting the expectations of our visitors and exhibitors for an event like CARAT+."

In 2017, in its debut edition, the show attracted more than 3,000 visitors and 130 exhibitors. Even during its second edition, the number of visitors had reportedly increased while the number of exhibitors remained about the same.

In the recent times, we all have observed how larger trade shows like Baselworld have cut down on their size as well as the exhibition days. It was an indication of the trade show industry going through some tough times. There has been quite a few smaller and exclusive product specific trade shows being organised. However, visitors/exhibitors are now concerned more about the cost of participation and the end-result of any trade show be it a large/small trade show.  Trade shows aren’t cheap, participation costs are quite high and considering the volatile market conditions, there’s no guarantee of good return of investment.