This makes Labelexpo Europe 2007 the largest and most successful label event ever to have taken place.
In total, 24,752 visitors from 114 countries attended this year's show – an increase of 7 per cent over the 2005 event. This included large delegations from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the Middle East.
And two-thirds of visitors extended their visit by at least a day (compared to 2005), which meant that the daily attendance was significantly higher than the overall figures suggest.
Of the 511 exhibitors at the show, a remarkable 145 were exhibiting for the first time, showing the continuing growth and development of the industry.
Exhibitors reported a marked increase in machinery and material sales and, by the end of the show, 85 per cent of exhibiting space had already been rebooked for Labelexpo Europe 2009 – the show's highest rebooking rate yet.
In order to give visitors the opportunity to see as much of the technology on display, the traditional conference program was condensed to three keynote presentations, presented by Mike Fairley and Andy Thomas.
The topics covered were:
* Challenging our business – today's RFID and environmental opportunities
* The European and global label markets – trends, opportunities and issues
* The future of label converting – materials, technology, solutions and management
More than 500 people attended these sessions, making them some of the most popular ever presented at a Labelexpo event.
More than 600 people attended the gala dinner and award ceremony at Autoworld Brussels on the first night of the show.
A major development for Labelexpo Europe 2009 – announched at this year's event – is the creation of the Digital Experience in Hall 9. This hall will be opened to exhibitors in 2009 and will have a strong focus on digital technology. Within a week after its announcement, more than 70 per cent of the available space had already been booked by suppliers including HP, Xeikon, Epson, EFI and Grafisk. The event is currently looking at ways of making more space available.
