Inkjet & Digital Printing
Strong Visitor Turnout at FESPA World Expo Asia-Pacific 2008
Wednesday 03. December 2008 - Launch event well supported despite dramatic events in Bangkok
The first-ever FESPA Asia-Pacific 2008 exhibition, which took place 28th – 30th November 2008 at BITEC in Bangkok, Thailand, attracted a strong number of visitors, despite the political demonstrations that closed Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi International Airport, only days before the exhibition.
The event still succeeded in attracting 5247 visitors from 35 countries, although 94% of visitors came from the host nation. Unfortunately, over 2000 international visitors who had pre-registered to attend the event were unable to travel to Bangkok, with an inevitable impact on the international visitor profile. The non-Thai visitors that attended the event were already in Thailand before the airport demonstrations commenced.
Event Director, Marcus Timson was pleased with the outcome of the show, given the circumstances. “Running a successful show in these challenging conditions is a great achievement. We had a positive experience despite the dramatic events in Bangkok and visitors and exhibitors were very understanding and supportive. The event delivered significant value for the 140 exhibitors that participated. The feedback that we received from them was that FESPA World Expo Asia-Pacific was certainly a worthwhile event for them from a sales perspective, with a strong turnout from the Thai printing community. We know that a number of exhibitors sold machines and generated business opportunities from the event.”
Manuel Zuckerman, Managing Director Fimor comments: “The show was very well organized and the exhibition venue was a really good choice, with the local staff and services being very efficient. It was a shame about the incidents at Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi International Airport, as the show would have been a phenomenal success otherwise.”
Marcus Timson concludes: “Im very proud of the team who rose to an immense challenge. We are also very grateful for the support that we received from BITEC, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau and the Thai Screen Printing & Graphic Imaging Association, who were very professional and went the extra mile for us to make the show run as smoothly as possible. For FESPA, this reinforces the choice of Thailand as a destination for FESPA Asia-Pacific and we expect the event to return here in the future.”