Showgoers of Coverings 2023, taking place April 18-21, 2023, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, will benefit from dozens of educational opportunities and some new exhibit hall tours at this year’s show. 

Show Floor Tours 

The much-lauded Contractor Tours will make a return at Coverings 2023, providing tourgoers with opportunities to join NTCA for guided show floor explorations of the latest tools, equipment and allied products for contractors, installers, retailers, distributors, and specifiers. The tours will kick off each day at 11 a.m., between April 18-20. 

The Sustainability Trends Tour takes place April 19, 2:30-3:30 p.m., will provide attendees with the opportunity to explore and discover the latest in sustainable products in the tile and stone industry and uncover exceptional insights regarding new trends and solutions for green building. Participants will compare current tile trends for sustainability; examine the sustainable benefits of tile; discuss the life cycle and carbon footprint of tile compared to other project materials; and review available environmental certifications, standards and technical performance requirements for tile and installation materials. 

The Health & Wellness Tour, April 20, 2-3 p.m., will examine all things current in the tile and stone industry regarding health and wellness. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the many health and wellness benefits of tile by comparing, viewing and discussing new design-build trends and solutions for health and hygiene. 

A Luxury in Practice Tour,  April 18, 2:30-3:30 p.m., will discover the latest high-end tile and stone trends, learning about new products and opportunities to deliver the beauty and luxury demanded by clientele. This tour will teach participants how companies leverage pillars of luxury to elevate their brands, how to identify these different pillars of luxury and how such pillars separate brands from the competition. Attendees will also examine brands that use provenance to grow their revenue and explore businesses that leverage time-honored traditions to solidify their brands as luxury. 

For those interested in outdoor spaces, a guided excursion on April 20 3-4 p.m. will lead attendees throughout the show floor, highlighting products that create beautiful and durable spaces that expand living beyond the indoors. Those on the tour will be able to identify global color and architectural trends for outdoor living spaces; review technical performance requirements of tile best suited for exterior projects; contrast different tile and installation products and their uses for outdoor spaces; and compare current tile trends for exterior applications by viewing a wide range of tile examples. 

Coverings is adding Building Your Installation Truck on April 19, 2:30-3:30 p.m., during which attendees will learn about the tools and technology that make installers’ lives easier on the road. Tour followers will attain a checklist and templates that will ensure their preparation for any installation challenge they may face. This custom-crafted tour will provide participants with the tools they need for a proper installation truck and teach them about new technology and programs to help stock their trucks.

|  ▶ See all show floor tours.
 

Coverings Show Features for Flooring Professionals  

A new session, Today’s Leading Sustainability Drivers and Their Impact on the Tile Industry, will offer insight into today’s sustainability market and the current conversation around carbon emissions, detailing the need for furthering the demands of environmental transparency, standardized environmental performance and human health optimization pertinent to product ingredients. The session will address how green building products and projects are increasingly scrutinized for embodied carbon, and how companies are further striving toward carbon neutral and net-zero practices. 

Coverings 2023 celebrates the return of the Sustainability Wall, which will be on display in the Coverings Lounge to showcase the environmentally friendly properties of ceramic tile. This popular show floor feature will be updated from the Coverings 2022 edition to educate attendees on the countless sustainable benefits of ceramic tile and tile’s advantages compared to other surface materials. 

Woody Sanders, owner of  D.W. Sanders Tile & Stone Contacting, and his team will showcase outdoor tile installation at the Coverings Lounge by dismantling and rebuilding a raised pedestal system each day. Pavers for this project have been donated by Atlas Concord and the demonstration will offer attendees the chance to learn how the pedestal system works. 

New to Coverings 2023 is the Distributor Lounge, sponsored by the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA). This new addition to Coverings will provide a quiet place to meet near the show floor for tile, stone and flooring distributors. Light refreshments and snacks will be served in the lounge, which is conveniently located at the top of the South Hall escalators in room S222. 

The Coverings 2023 show floor will also include a special display that will be of particular interest to architect and design attendees known as the Art Tile Village. The Art Tile Village, located next to the Coverings Lounge in the TCNA Pavilion, will include a range of aesthetically pleasing tile art designed by local and regional tile experts. This space will be dedicated to artisans who keep old-world traditions alive by crafting handmade art and specialty tiles.

Attendees visiting the Art Tile Village will find one-of-a-kind decorative tiles and accents that can give any project a distinctive and unique touch. Several interactive demonstrations about pre-mounting techniques, forming, decorating/glazing, and hand painting will be featured in the area so attendees can learn more about the craft.