IBC 2001 Attendance Down But Show Declared a Success

At the close of IBC 2001 36,000 people had attended the show.Although attendance had been affected by the recent events in theUnited States, both delegates and exhibitors declared the IBC 2001 asuccess.

Pre-Registrations: 34,985

No-shows: 16,015

Estimated Attendance: 52,000

Actual Attendance: 36,294

"The whole world has been deeply touched by the tragedy in the U.S.We send our condolences to everyone affected. There was a lot of soulsearching last week and it was a difficult decision to open the show.But IBC and our customers were determined not to be beaten byterrorism," said IBC President John Wilson.

"In the end the exhibition build up was pretty smooth. All thebooths were completed and open on time. Around 20 U.S.-based smallerexhibiting companies failed to make it across the Atlantic. We madesure that their booths were set up as best we could with appropriatesignage," said Peter Owen, IBC Exhibition Chairman.

"When the show opened, everyone had readjusted their expectationsand it is fair to say that those expectations have been exceeded. Thedecision to proceed with IBC 2001 was correct," he added.

"It's at times like this that trends and predictions becomeirrelevant and everyone at the show asked the basic question why do wecome to IBC? This show has proved that IBC is a valid, focused,relevant and strong event," added Mike Crimp, IBC PublicityDirector.

"We were expecting an audience of 52,000. Pre-registration was verystrong and so we know which delegates were unable to travel toAmsterdam. We will give the demographics of the relevant no-shows toexhibitors so they can market to these customers."