MIDO 2024 with an increase in visitors

MIDO 2024 hosted more than 1,200 exhibitors in the seven exhibition pavilions and welcomed more than 40,000 visitors during the three-day trade fair in Milan at the beginning of February, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year.

According to the trade fair, the increase was equally divided between Italian and international participants. The latter came from 160 countries, from Asia to the United States and the whole of Europe.

“Before the fair opened, we had hoped for an increase in visitor numbers compared to last year. Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved and the trust that the industry places in us every year, we have achieved the ambitious goal we set ourselves,” said MIDO President Giovanni Vitaloni. “Throughout the exhibition space, we saw brisk sales and keen interest from buyers, who were here in part thanks to our partnership with the ITA-Italian Trade Agency.”

The “MIDO 2024 | Digital Edition”, with almost 12,000 subscribers, has seen an increase in showcase pages from 650 in 2023 to 845 this year, showing that exhibitors are increasingly finding it beneficial to combine in-person participation with virtual activities.

Sustainability and inclusion

MIDO is also an exchange of opinions on the future of the industry and interaction between practical and potential solutions. At the packed conferences in the Otticlub, the 2024 discussions with guests such as Diego Dalla Palma, Ico Migliore and Ernst Knam centred on beauty, design and passion. Interviewed by Francesco Morace for the “MIDday Talks” series, the guests explored the new, less stereotypical model of beauty that is currently taking centre stage in the world of aesthetics, with structured, sustainable lightness in design and artisanal intelligence – a necessary return to the roots.

The topic of sustainability was also the focus of the presentation of the CSE programme (Certified Sustainable Eyewear), a voluntary international certification for product sustainability that is registered and promoted by ANFAO. Time was also devoted to the current trending topic of inclusion with the conference on inclusive language in the “Empowering Optical Women Leadership Programme”, where the results achieved one year after the launch of the programme to promote women in leadership positions in the eyewear industry were presented.

“Sustainability and inclusion are two issues that are close to ANFAO’s heart, and we made this clear this year with the presentation of two key projects that highlight the association’s concrete, visible efforts in the everyday life of the eyewear industry, aimed at improving it and making it even more competitive,” explained ANFAO President Lorraine Berton.

Ophthalmologist prescriptions

The medical-scientific aspects of spectacle lenses were addressed at three round tables focussing on myopia and presbyopia. An important joint agreement on this topic was proposed during the meeting entitled “Presbyopia and the prescription of multifocal lenses: the ideal path of the patient from the ophthalmologist to the optical centre and vice versa”, promoted by ANFAO Lens Group, Federottica and Fabiano Gruppo Editoriale.

For the first time, according to MIDO, a development programme was presented in which “the ophthalmologist can give the optician a new prescription based on the greater level of information that the medical field has in relation to the solutions currently available, and which the optician can pass on to the ophthalmologist, with the patient’s consent, in certain situations that require medical intervention, who will then be able to investigate the conditions based on important background information”.

Finally, the MIDO Awards, which took centre stage on the second day, honoured the optician centres, exhibitors and industry professionals who are committed to improving themselves and their profession on a daily basis in various areas for the benefit of the entire supply chain.

The next MIDO will take place from 8 to 10 February 2025.

Source: MIDO