Big changes are in the plans for the BaselWorld show. Undeniably the biggest and most important watch show on the planet, BaselWorld is not content to just sit back and rake in the money. No, according to Sylvie Ritter, Show Director of BaselWorld since 2004, the show has always worked to expand, improve and upgrade.
BaselWorld is now poised for a major project that involves an investment of 350 million CHF, to be ready in 2012. “The most import-ant part of this project has been developed by the famous architects Herzog and De Meuron, from Basel,” Ritter details. "We are planning an extension of Hall 1 across the Exhibition Square and a renovation of Hall 3. We are planning an interconnection of both new halls by a two-story superstructure which will cover Exhibition Square. Hall 1 and the new Hall 3 will be connected, so people won't have to go outside to cross the square anymore.





“Our important requirements for the project are to increase the compactness of the area with a large connected exhibition surface, so you don't have the cuts between the halls, and the compactness and the covering of the fair square,” she continues. “This way, all of our halls will have direct access from the main fair hall. The architects, Herzog and De Meuron, have been working with us for many, many years. They understand what our needs are here.”
One of the great features of BaselWorld, the outdoor party and live music in Exhibition Square at the end of the fair day will still be there, although the party will have to move slightly to the front of Hall 2.
Because Hall 1 will be connected to Hall 3, the exhibition space of Hall 1 will be effectively doubled. “To have a state of the art exhibition centre here in Basel, you have to keep making improvements,” Ritter adds. “You cannot organize shows here with ageing halls and Hall 3 is not a state of the art hall. We will have to give up Hall 6 for 2012, so we have to create the needed area somehow. Hall 6 is an old warehouse and the city of Basel is going to transform it into a living area for its citizens, with apartments, a park and possibly shopping.”





Surprisingly, the gross exhibition space as of this year is 160,000 square metres and the gross exhibition space projected when the improvements are made in 2012 will be 150,000 square metres, a decrease in overall space. “With the ageing halls we have now, it's difficult to use the surface in a very ef-ficient manner,” Ritter explains. “Right now, we have dead corners where we cannot put any stands, we have dead space for the connections between the halls and the entrance areas are not well organized. The new halls have less gross exhibition space, but we will still be able to handle all the exhibitors we have right now.” The new layout will feature additional restaurants and the amenities people have come to expect from BaselWorld.
Ritter also pledges that the number of hotel rooms in Basel will be increased within the next two years, with another 600 rooms added. “We are developing ideas to accommodate more people in the city during the fair,” Ritter says.





Although the watch and jewellery industry would like to think that when BaselWorld is not in session, the halls stand empty, while in fact the show space is busy year round. Certainly, BaselWorld is the most important and the biggest show using the grounds, but there is also a very well known art show here in the same space, as well as a multitude of other trade shows and exhibitions. The improvements on the schedule for 2012 will benefit BaselWorld and all the other shows tremendously.
“Every year, more and more people come to BaselWorld,” Ritter notes. “We try very hard to reflect the whole watch and jewellery market worldwide. We always say that anybody who is anybody has to be at the show and feel part of the show, and it's our duty to create this feeling. Since 1999, we have made a lot of changes inside the show; we have created a lot of new sections. We try to reflect the market and that is an important part of the success of BaselWorld. On the other side, the exhibitors are also creating the event with their presence, their new collections. It's like a kick off for the year. It's springtime during Basel here in Europe and the new collections of watches and jewellery are coming out like the flowers and the trees.”

www.baselworld.com

Source: Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issue