Textile printing was a major draw for visitors to the Fespa Global Print Expo 2018, with one in three visitors indicating an interest in textile and fabric printing, while digital printing was the dominant area of visitor interest, being a key focus for 44% of all visitors.
The show, which took place at the Messe Berlin, 15 to 18 May, attracted the largest number of visitors ever for a four-day Fespa show: 20,442 individual visitors, from a record 142 countries, attended Fespa and the co-located European Sign Expo 2018. Two-thirds of all visitors dedicated more than one day to the event to cover the ten exhibition halls, and these repeat visits brought total event attendance to 33,799.
Germany delivered the largest percentage of visitors overall, with 26% of the total audience coming from the host country. After Germany, the top ten countries in terms of visitor attendance were the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden.
Fespa exhibitions director Roz Guarnori comments: “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% 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, Germany, from 14 to 17 May 2019. FESPA has also confirmed the location and dates of the 2020 edition as 24-27 March 2020, Madrid, Spain.
