The warm hospitality provided by our hotels and restaurants, together with our wonderful selection of food, have always ensured that Italy is rated as one of the world’s top places to visit. All these good things will be on show at the Food and Hospitality China event, due to take place in Shanghai from November 10^th to 12^th.

The Italian Trade Commission is coordinating a group of about 50 companies, which will be occupying an exhibition space of approximately 800 square metres. They will try to recreate, as well as possible, the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere of Italy’s best restaurants and hotels, hoping to make an impression on the vibrant Chinese market. Indeed, although it continues to represent something of a niche for imported products, and those from the West in particular, China has recently witnessed a significant growth in consumer spending, especially in the urban coastal areas.

It is certainly well within the capacity of those Italian companies displaying at Food and Hospitality China 2010 to attract the attention of visitors and all those working in the sector: this will be underpinned by the fine quality of the pasta, wine, oil, fish and coffee to be shown on the stands. The display of products associated with hotels will also play its part. It will range from bathroom items (towels, shower-caps, shampoo, and bubble-bath sachets) to linen and bedroom furniture.

This will be the nineteenth edition of the trade fair, now recognised as one of the most important appointments for the sector. Last year, 850 exhibitors from 20 countries participated in the event; the exhibition space covered more than 35,000 square metres, and visitor numbers exceeded 20,000. This time, the size of the joint displays will in some cases be reduced, but certainly not to the detriment of quality. The Italian companies are well aware that they will be amongst the most eagerly anticipated at the fair: they cannot disappoint expectations, and will be trying to offer their very best.

The wines selected for the tastings will be fully capable of competing with the best quality French wines, and the pasta will be made from durum wheat semolina, in the very best Italian tradition. The extra-virgin olive oil will possess a distinctive, unmistakable flavour, and the coffee will have the intense aroma of that special brew prepared in Naples. With regard to the hotel displays, all the products on offer will fulfil the most important requirements: the sheets will be made of hypoallergenic fabric, and the shower-gels and shampoos will be clinically tested. Lastly, the furniture on show at the fair will represent the very best in Italian design, recognised and exported throughout the world.

Every element will be in place to help beat the competition provided by exhibitors from other nations, and to ensure a slice of the market is captured: not just in China, where reluctance to experiment with the food and life-style of the West is slowly diminishing, but also in various other Asian countries.