FESPA 2015 lures most international visitor audience to date

FESPA 2015 Global Expo, (18-22 May 2015) in Cologne, Germany, attracted the most internationally diverse audience yet, with exhibitors meeting delegates from 133 countries across the world.

Of the 23137 visitors that flocked through the doors of Koelnmesse, 88% were from Europe, 5% from Asia, 4% from the Middle East and Africa and 3% from the Americas. As anticipated, Germany had the largest visitor delegation, followed by the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Italy and France. 68% of attendees came from outside of the host nation.

Cologne’s proximity to the Netherlands meant that FESPA 2015 welcomed its largest number of delegates from the country to a Global Expo. There was also a significant increase of visitors from Belgium, with more than double the number attending the 2015 event compared with FESPA 2010, the last time the Global Expo took place in Germany. Cologne’s Northern European location also meant that there was a 37% increase in printers from Scandinavia, compared with FESPA 2010.

FESPA’s direct presence in Turkey through FESPA Eurasia has impacted visitors from the area, with a 27% rise in attendees from the country. The FESPA China brand has also had an effect, with a 59% increase on representatives from Asia compared with FESPA 2010.

FESPA 2015 exhibitors also commented on the internationality of the visitors

Celine Colin, Sales Director, Demill, notes: “We had over 200 contacts during the exhibition, with maybe 30% from Germany and the rest from around the globe.”

Richard Barrow, Senior Product Manager, Epson Europe, says: “FESPA 2015 was very well organised and attracted a much more international spread of visitors than ever before.”

Ralf Roschlau, Managing Director, Foteco Remco states: “We’re surprised by the amount of international visitors attending; we’ve met with people from Africa, the Middle East and Asia.”

Richard Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer, M&R, explains: “FESPA 2015 has been fantastic! It’s been well-attended by people from all over the world – greater than expected.”

Mitesh Patel, Sales and Development Manager, Premier Textiles, comments: “There’s no other show in Europe where we can meet visitors from around the world who are interested in our particular niche in the market.”

FESPA CEO, Neil Felton, comments: “FESPA 2015 has been our biggest Global Expo event by far, with the most exhibitors, the most visitors and the richest international visitor mix. It’s excellent to see the value the global print community places in the FESPA Global Expo and how our expansion outside Europe has stimulated even greater interest in our flagship event. FESPA’s peripatetic cycle attracts new followers in new territories and the move to Cologne refreshed our audience yet again, ensuring that exhibitors build new relationships with every FESPA show.

“Next year, as we move to Amsterdam for FESPA Digital 2016, we will aim to keep our loyal following, while engaging new visitor audiences from a range of vertical markets, building on the 10-year heritage of the Digital event.”

Forthcoming FESPA events include:

• FESPA Africa, 22-24 July 2015, Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
• African Print Conference, 22-23 July 2015, Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
• FESPA Mexico 2015, 20-22 August 2015, Centro Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico
• Brasil Signage Expo, 27-28 August 2015, Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, Brazil
• FESPA China 2015, 21-23 October 2015, Shanghai New Int’l Expo Centre, Shanghai, China
• FESPA Eurasia 2015, 26-29 November 2015, CNR Expo, Istanbul, Turkey
• FESPA Digital 2016, 08-11 March 2016, RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands

For more information on FESPA and upcoming events, visit: www.fespa.com