Visitors to Drupa 2012 numbered 314,500, 75,500 less than the last show in 2008.
“This drop does not come as a surprise for us and the sector as a whole. In Germany alone the printing industry lost some 3,900 operations with over 61,000 employees between 2000 and 2011. In the USA over the same period more than 7,700 printing operations closed,” explained Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf.
“Against this backdrop it is not surprising that fewer visitors came to Drupa 2012. However – and this is the key point – customers now no longer come to Drupa as large delegations or on group corporate trips; it is much more top managers who travel to Düsseldorf. Drupa is clearly the decision-makers’ trade fair and the trade fair for business.”
The proportion of top managers amongst visitors has grown significantly since 2008 (50.8% compared with 44.4% in 2008). Results of the Drupa visitor survey showed visitors attended with specific investment intentions. Nearly 50% of all visitors place specific orders – many at the trade fair itself.
With more than 190,000 foreign visitors the international focus of Drupa continues at a very high level. What is striking here is the high number of trade visitors from India which, now reaching some 15,000, ranks as the second largest visitor nation after Germany (123,000 visitors). Following behind these two in the country ranking are: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, Switzerland and Italy.
The dominating themes at drupa 2012 were automation, packaging printing, digital printing, hybrid technologies, Web-to-print applications and environmentally sound printing. For instance, 40% of visitors said they were interested in digital printing machinery and digital printing systems. Also attracting great attention was the future theme printed electronics.
“Technologically Drupa 2012 was a fair of superlatives. It demonstrated that printing is more alive than ever,” said Rolf Schwarz, president of the German Print and Media Association Bundesverband Druck und Medien. “There were impressive innovations in all printing processes. I was particularly excited by suppliers and machinery manufacturers from upstream supplies, printing and further processing who jointly convinced visitors with workflow and production solutions and outstanding products. Offset and digital print solutions complement rather than compete with each other here.”
Also producing a positive result was the specialist supporting programme. Over 20% of visitors were interested in the Drupa Innovation Park and DrupaCube.
The next drupa will be held from 2 to 15 June 2016.