AQUA-THERM Praha 2002 in Figures
| Number of direct exhibitors: | 448 |
| Number of visitors: | 44.113 |
| of this, experts and traders: | 28.541 |
| net exhibition area of stands in m2: | 14.605 m2 |
| Overall area of trade fair in m2: | 23.245 m2 |
| From a survey carried out a sample of 700 visitors it was found that: | |
| decide or jointly decide on purchases and investments | 64,9 % |
| visited the trade fair more than once | 19,0 % |
| were satisfied with the offer of the exhibitors | 97,0 % |
| will visit the trade fair in 2003 | 97,7 % |
| Number of accredited reporters at the trade fair: | 169 |
91,1 % of the overall number of visitors consider the AQUA-THERM Prague to be the most prestigious trade fair its field in the Czech Republic.
Country Number of direct exhibitors:
Czech Republic - 389, Denmark - 3, France - 1, Finland - 1, Netherlands - 1, Italien - 24, Hungary - 1, Germany - 15, Poland - 4, Austria - 3, Slovakia - 4, Slovenia - 1, Great Britain - 1.
Fifty none direct foreign exhibitors from abroad participated in the trade fair on an overall net exhibition area of 1.291 m2. Germany and Italy had joint stands. A further 274 firms from 22 countries were represented on the stands of all the direct exhibitors.
All data audited by Amasia Expo.
The trade fair Aqua-therm Praha was officially opened by the Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, František Kubelka, the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Pavel Labounek, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Jaromír Drábek. The trade fair is being held under the aegis of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic and the Chamber of Commerce of Prague. The expert guarantee is ensured by the Association of Entrepreneurs in the Field of Technical Equipment of the Czech Republic and the Association of Expert Wholesalers in Gas, Water, Heating and Ventilation.
A total of 44,113 visitors attended the trade fair, who mostly came on business. A survey carried out on a sample of 700 respondents showed, amongst other things, that the positive trend in the composition of visitors was continuing; the number of architects and designers increased (13,7 % out of the total number of experts), as did the number of employees with decision-making and joint-decision-making authorisation for purchases and investments (64,9 %). Nineteen percent of visitors needed more than just one day at the trade fair, and they came at least twice. Ninety-one point one percent of visitors stated that they consider Aqua-therm Praha to be the most prestigious trade fair in the field of technical equipment for buildings in the Czech Republic.
The expert evaluation committee headed by the director of the Czech Power Agency, Josef Bubeník, awarded gold medals to the ten best exhibits at the trade fair and certificates of merit to a further seventeen. The awards were presented to the exhibitors by the Ministry of the Environment, Libor Ambrozek. Investors, implementers and designers received eight awards from the Director of the State Environmental Fund, Radka Bučilová, in the competition Land for Grandchildren. This special award was given for the third time at Aqua-therm to firms with the best projects in the field of energy saving and the protection of the environment. The firm Družstevní závody Dražice - strojírna received the Grand Prix of the Association of Expert Wholesalers for excellent business cooperation with expert wholesalers.
The award for the best exhibit at the trade fair went to the firm Baxi Heating (Czech Republic), the best advertisement for Aqua-therm was published by the firm Reflex CZ, and finally in the third competition for the best company Internet pages Ekoplastik was voted the best company by experts and in the survey of readers of Medium Soft. The trade fair also traditionally includes a nationwide competition for apprentices in the field of plumber. This year the secondary expert apprentice college in Frýdek-Místek won.
At the social evening for exhibitors in the hotel Hilton, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Jiří Rusnok, presented a special award to the firm EVČ Pardubice for its tremendous work in ameliorating the consequences of an accident at the Opatovice power station.
In association with the trade association of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the Association of Entrepreneurs in the Field of Technical Equipment (Czech acronym SPTZ) organised the second conference East with the main theme of the European Charter of Small Entrepreneurs. The conference was also attended by delegations from Slovenia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Germany and Latvia and the General Secretary of the European Federation for Technical Equipment CEETB and the Secretary of the European Association of Trades and Small Businesses UEAPME, Oliver Loebel, from Brussels. For the first time this year the conference TZB-2002 was held, organised by the Internet portal TZB-info (www.tzb-info.cz), which once again set up a free Internet café at the trade fair focussing on the issue of the technical equipment of buildings.
This year for the first time there was a separate section for swimming pools and saunas, and the event Warmth by Christmas, in aid of those afflicted by the floods of August, was another new feature.