It was a very successful edition,” said Orietta Foschi, and continued: “Companies have promoted their new products, they have organized a lot of meetings, too, and have discussed about the new rules and regulations, because a lot of things have changed in the latest months, so it was important to meet and find out how to approach the market for the future. They are happy because the event has increased the number of visitors, in particular the international visitors. We are satisfied with the results.”

Then, Foschi said that the organization has established an international platform to put in contact the offer with the demand, inviting delegations from many countries and organizing business meetings with their exhibiting companies.

“This year the show is bigger because we have organized the second edition of the Rimini Amusement Show, which is a special section dedicated to amusement. There is an increase of this kind of products. We have also organized a lot of contests, from e-sports to pin-ball, darts and so on, and we have created this new sector to promote a different kind of entertainment, so we have gaming and amusement side by side, and visitors have appreciated this new sector,” Foschi added.

When asked about the highlights of the event, she said: “The highlight was the future market in Italy and also in Europe, because on Tuesday we have organized the EUROMAT meeting, so delegations from all of Europe have met in Rimini to discuss the future of gaming and amusement in Europe and they have tried to understand and help the gaming and amusement industry not only in Italy but also in other European countries.”

“On the first day of the exhibition the President of EUROMAT and the President of BACTA were here and other European delegates. It is important that Rimini becomes a meeting point for European operators. And we want to promote this event and we want it to be a regular meeting. It would be nice to have this European meeting in Rimini simultaneously with Enada Primavera.”

“Most of the visitors are from Italy and from the Mediterranean area, and we want to attract more visitors from Eastern Europe, and also Turkey, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, and also from the Northern European countries. We also have visitors from North America, because our exhibitors are in contact with American producers (pinball, electronic games, etc) so there were delegates from all over,” she pointed.

She then commented about the feedback received from exhibitors and visitors: “Visitors are satisfied because they have found more products this year, especially more amusement products. Exhibitors are satisfied because in Italy the situation of the market is not growing, but anyway, they have done business in Rimini. The situation is not easy but this event is important to promote and to sell products.”

“ENADA Academy is important. We had meetings and the meeting rooms were full of people because they were discussing the new rules, for instance, the new rules concerning advertising. The Italian law is stricter than before and that’s why operators manage to understand how they can promote their business. This is a real problem. And they were very interested about this topic.  ENADA meetings also treated the e-sports issue, which is an European and global trend. Another busy meeting was the one concerning the new rules and regulations about the new slot machines. The academy is s real tool for operators to understand how they can work,” she added.

Finally, she talked about the Italian market: “It is changing very very quickly. First of all, because of the new rules and also because the consumer tastes are changing very fast. Young people have different habits and they have a different idea of entertainment; they play in a different way. The online gaming is growing a lot in Italy but also all over the world, and operators have to change their products quickly, or more quickly than before.”

“I think online gaming is attracting more and more consumers, but all kinds of games will last forever, even vintage games, such as table soccer or darts,” she concluded.