Hospitality traders gather in Vilnius

VILNIUS - Quality over quantity seems to be the latest catch phrase at Vilnius' LitExpo Trade and Conference Center. While numbers for consumer-oriented trade shows such as Jusu Namai (Your Home) are dropping, specialized business-to-business fairs are holding their own. According to LitExpo spokesperson Rasa Keliuotyte business people in the Baltics are becoming more savvy about the shows they attend. "Our clients today want well-organized, specialist [trade] shows that they can prepare for well in advance," she said. Consumer show attendance has dropped because Lithuanians are more careful about their spending habits following the recent recession, according to Keliuotyte.

These trends were very much in evidence at the BaltGastro, Baltshop,

Balthotel fair that ran from Nov. 9 to 11 at the center. About 45 mainly Lithuanian companies specializing in equipment and supplies for the hospitality industry participated with roughly 2,500 people attending per day. Eighteen of the exhibitors were new to this year's show.

"We got what we wanted from this show in the first day," said Antanas Dobrovolskas of Amanda Designs. "We received orders from German and Italian companies that will come through before the end of this year, so we've already paid for our attendance. This was an easy show," he said. Amanda Designs specializes in high quality restaurant and retail fixtures.

A Latvian company, LATSAT, which has a license to sell Finnish interactive television technology in the Baltics, was also at the show.

"It is important for us to be here and this show will help us," said LATSAT's Mikhail Saveljev. Although they had no orders placed for their Internet/pay-TV billing units, he felt it was important to have a presence at the show for the good of the company image. The company already has major contracts with the SAS Radisson chain, which is very active in the Baltics, and is looking to close a deal with the high-end Hotel Narutis in Vilnius.