Vicenzaoro Highlights, January 2024: Vicenzaoro,70 Years of History

To introduce the figure of Andrea Turcato, one might say that JGT Dubai and SIGE Singapore, today's two "foreign buddings" of Vicenzaoro, are indirectly the result of his long career, which began in 1981 and ended in 2007. A twenty-six- year stint that saw him go from the role of Marketing Manager to that of CEO of Vicenza International, with no less than 14 years as General Secretary in between. His story contains some of the fundamental steps that laid the foundations for transforming the Vicenza exhibition from a national event to one of major global importance. «My internationalization strategy consisted of three steps: making Vicenzaoro known abroad, expanding the database of foreign buyer and company contacts, and attracting new exhibitors to make the show more prestigious and appealing. I activated the first step by distributing the Vioro magazine (now called VO+, ed.) at the sector’s main trade fairs, such as in Munich, New York and Hong Kong. I managed to get a stand there and, by distributing the magazine, my staff collected contacts from potential exhibitors and buyers. Our database expanded enormously and from there we started receiving requests for stands in Vicenza. The first foreign company to do so came from Thailand, then it was the turn of a group from Hong Kong that had been loyal to HKJJ for over thirty years. The first buyers were American, followed by others from Europe and the East. In addition to this “recall” action, together with ITA – Italian Trade Agency - and the World Gold Council, we organized over a hundred events and fashion shows around the world, creating an important audience around the theme of Made in Italy jewelry. 2002 saw the first experience of a trade show format abroad, in Shanghai, together with a German partner. The “experiment” went quite well, but unfortunately, the following year, the Sars epidemic broke out and everything came to a halt. Perhaps the time was not yet ripe, but we realized that this was the right road to take and Vicenza International was born. With pride, I can say that IEG’s work, led until 2023 by Lorenzo Cagnoni, has confidently taken up what we did and, with courage and dynamism, has carried forward an internationalization strategy that is bearing fruit today.»