The success story of IDS continues

The International Dental Show (IDS) is opening its doors for the 38th time from 12 to 16 March 2019. Around 2,300 companies from over 60 countries are awaited in Cologne for the world's biggest trade fair for dentistry and dental technology. As such, the entire dental industry is represented at the IDS, including all the international market leaders, which makes it unique in terms of depth and breadth: from dental medicine, to dental technology, infection protection and maintenance, through to customer services, information, communication and organizational materials. Due to its entirety and high number of innovations IDS impressively underlines its significance as a forward-looking trendsetter of the dental industry. No other dental trade fair worldwide presents such a wide spectrum of offers of dental products and services. IDS 2019 covers Halls 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11, spanning a total gross floor area of over 170,000 m².Not least due to the high number of registrations, the GFDI - the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers e.V. (VDDI) and Koelnmesse are anticipating that IDS 2019 will be able to repeat the excellent result of the previous event also in terms of the number of visitors. 155,000 trade visitors from 156 countries were recorded at IDS 2017.

Of the expected approx. 2,300 companies from 60 countries well over 70 percent of the exhibitors come from abroad - an indication of the high level of internationality of IDS. The most strongly represented countries among the exhibitors are Italy, the USA, the Republic of Korea, China, Switzerland, France and Great Britain.

In addition to this, numerous foreign group stands will be represented in Cologne again. Up until now 19 groups have registered for IDS from Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey and the USA.

With the integration of Hall 5, IDS is creating the necessary capacity for the strong demand on the part of the exhibitors and visitors. Here, among others several large suppliers of consumer prophylaxis will be exhibiting. Hall 5 fits in well with the natural tour of the trade fair and is perfectly connected to the 'mobile' Boulevard entrance area between Halls 5 and 10, which we will be opening in addition to the Entrances South, East and West to ensure an optimal visitor flow. Here, the visitors will primarily be led to the fair grounds via shuttles from the trade fair car park and the external visitor car parks. The integration of Hall 5 further enhances the overall quality of stay for the visitors of IDS: a "Food Court" in Hall 5.1, the wide aisles and the light-flooded passages provide an improved orientation and lend the event an even better structure. Furthermore, the smooth, visitor-friendly access situation guarantees a more even distribution of the visitors across all of the exhibition halls.

Once again in 2019, the International Dental Show is sticking to its recipe for success by continuing to focus on the business and product information at the stands of the exhibitors. This is why the trusted regulation will be adhered to that the opening day of the fair, 12 March 2019, will as the "Dealer's Day" concentrate on the dental specialised trade and importers. In this way, they are to be given the opportunity to hold intensive sales negotiations in the corresponding atmosphere.

An important theme that is affecting all industries across the globe and which will also be clearly perceptible at IDS 2019 is the "digitalisation". IDS has accordingly also completely relaunched its website, turning it into a digital information platform, which inspires with its visual imagery and which is intuitive to navigate through. The IDS app for mobile phones and iPads as well the newsletter information are also aligned with this digital "look & feel". The visitors can use the IDS app in the run-up to the event to gain information on the exhibitors and products as well as on the accompanying event programme fast and conveniently. The interactive hall plan makes sure the visitors don't lose their orientation. The navigation system of the app guides the visitors through the halls to the desired exhibition stands in a targeted manner. The app also contains information a list of exhibitors of course as well as information on the event programme and on-site services.

And the digital tool Matchmaking365 supports the trade visitors in establishing valuable business contacts even before the trade fair starts. Here concrete advance information and offers can be requested and appointments at the trade fair can be arranged - simply from the comfort of one's own desk or even en route using the app.

In addition to extensive live demonstrations and presentations that take place alongside the product presentations at numerous stands, the 'Speakers Corner' of IDS opens up additional opportunities to gather information. The exhibitors can use the hosted visitor forum for lectures and product presentation as an additional means of presenting new products and trends from their offer of products and services.

Thanks to the many online services, your arrival, stay and fair ticket can be booked quickly and easily on the IDS website. It has already been possible to register and purchase your ticket via the online Ticket Shop since the end of November. Anyone with vouchers should exchange these for an E-Ticket in advance in the Ticket Shop. Together with the E-Ticket the trade visitors also receive a transport ticket for buses and trains belonging to the Rhein-Sieg transport network (VRS), the ticket is also valid for the Rhine-Ruhr transport network for the first time. Hence, the trade fair guests can choose from attractive overnight offers in the outskirts of Cologne and throughout the entire Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan region and travel to IDS using public transport free of charge. Thanks to the outstanding infrastructure connections of the fair grounds, the cities of Düsseldorf and Bonn are reachable in under 30 minutes and the metropolitan Rhine-Ruhr area comprising of the cities Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Mülheim or Dortmund can be reached within 45 to 60 minutes. Trade fair guests, who arrive at Düsseldorf Airport or who stay in a hotel in Essen, can use the regional express trains, suburban trains, trams and city buses and thus reach the Messe Köln-Deutz station and/or trade fair quickly and conveniently. Furthermore, this additional service also offers accommodation options of all categories in smaller cities and communities that lie on the Deutsche Bahn routes connecting the surrounding region with the Cologne trade fair location (Düren, Leverkusen, Solingen, Troisdorf, Siegburg, Hennef). Further information on the rail network of the Rhein-Sieg public transport network and the Rhein-Ruhr public transport network can be found at www.vrsinfo.de/ and at www.vrr.de

IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and is staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.