Positive investment climate reported at drupa 2008
DUSSELDORF, Germany—At the recent staging of drupa 2008 print media trade fair, the 1,971 exhibitors from 52 countries unanimously reported an extremely high number of promising contacts and successful purchase deals.
Overall, drupa exhibitors announced deals concluded worth more than Euro 10 billion. Industry insiders suspect the actual investment sum to be considerably higher. Around 391,000 visitors from 138 countries and 3,000 journalists from 84 countries traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany to gather information on innovations, developments and new fields of business. Accounting for 59 percent of the visitor total, international visitor participation increased by 4 percent compared to drupa 2004.
Particularly contributing to this growth were Asian and Latin American trade visitors with 7 percent coming from South and Central America and 15 percent from Asia (2004: 13.6 percent). At a surprising level of 6 percent, the proportion of North American visitors remained constant.
On the exhibitor side, 64 percent of the companies came from countries other than Germany, with Italy (191 exhibitors), China (139), Great Britain (135) and the U.S. (105) as the leading foreign exhibitor nations. The U.S. exhibitor figure includes 27 companies displaying their products within the successful U.S. Pavilion, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America (MDNA) and co-sponsored by NPES – The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies.
Visitors not only gave drupa 2008 excellent ratings (97 percent rated the event positively), but also increased their average stay at the trade fair to 3.2 days (2004: 3 days). Additionally, considerably more top managers attended drupa 2008—45 percent compared to 42.2 percent in 2004.
The paper industry associations represented at drupa 2008 in a joint stand—the German Pulp and Paper Association (VDP) and the Business Associations for Paper Processing (WPV)—rated their participation as successful. The member companies of the National Printing Inks Association were also pleased with their results and reported above average visitor numbers from the Far East, India and South America.
The specialist ancillary program at drupa 2008 was very popular. With more than 130 exhibitors presenting innovations in the digital supplies sector, the drupa innovation parc was a great success. The drupacube served as an infotainment center for print buyers. During the day, it was the site of workshops and symposia, while in the evening it turned into a stylish venue for events. More than 830 print buyers took advantage of this offer.
The next drupa is scheduled for May 3–16, 2012 in Düsseldorf.
For more information, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601, (312) 781-5180, Fax: (312) 781-5188, visit http://www.mdna.com, or email info@mdna.com .
