Last month’s Fespa Global Print Expo, held in Berlin, welcomed its largest ever audience of over 20,000 visitors from 142 countries.
Roz Guarnori, exhibitions director for Fespa, says, “Fespa 2018 Global Print Expo was a vibrant, action-packed event that absolutely surpassed even our own expectations, from the energy and appetite for innovation among our diverse visitor audience, to the incredible range of new products brought to market by our exhibitors. Our own research and the electric mood of the show reinforce our confidence that speciality print and signage are sectors that never stop inventing, exploring, pushing boundaries and looking for new ways to achieve growth.”
The record number of 20,442 individual visitors represents a 22 per cent increase on the number of individual visitors to Fespa Digital 2018 Amsterdam, Fepa’s last four-day event. Two-thirds of all visitors dedicated more than one day to the event to cover the 10 exhibition halls.
The expanded content programme included the European Sign Expo; the Fespa Trend Theatre; an enlarged Printeriors showcase; the new Print Make Wear garment production feature; and the Digital Corrugated Experience for packaging and point-of-sale.
Digital printing, the dominant area of visitor interest according to the event registration data, starred as a key focus for 44 per cent of all visitors. One in three 2018 visitors indicated an interest in textile and fabric printing. Commercial print, finishing, design to print, sublimation printing and industrial printing also featured strongly among visitors’ priorities for the event.
Organisers say exhibitors across the show reported excellent business and strong interest from print service providers in technology and consumables innovations to drive greater productivity and applications diversity.
Guarnori adds, “When we announced the change to an annual four-day Fespa event cycle, we fully expected to see some ‘levelling off’ of attendance between the historical flagship Fespa event and the four-day Digital event. Against these expectations, we’re absolutely thrilled to have welcomed just as many visitors as we did over five days in Hamburg in 2017, and to have exceeded typical attendance at a Fespa Digital show by over a fifth.
“With 35 per cent of visitors having final decision-making responsibility in their businesses, and the same proportion of the audience coming primarily to research or purchase new equipment, it’s clear that Fespa is viewed all over the world as a leading showcase of latest technology for digital, screen and textile print, and a vital event in informing critical investment decisions.”
The next Fespa Global Print Expo takes place at Messe Munich in Germany, from May 14-17 next year.
