By Chris Smith, European Plastics News
Preliminary figures from Fakuma exhibition organiser PE Schall show that 37 281 people travelled to Friedrichshafen, Germany, for this year's event, down by 11 percent to from the 2008 total of 41 856.
This year's event was the 20th Fakuma fair. European Plastics News understands this is the first time the show has recorded a decline in attendee numbers. Attendance, however, has proved considerably more resilient than some other plastics fairs; Italy's Plast fair posted a 16 percent decline and the US NPE fair 30 percent.
Exhibitor numbers at this year's Fakuma were also down. Schall said exhibitor numbers for 2009 totalled "more than 1500" compared with 1705 in 2008.
In a statement released with the visitor numbers, Schall said that this year's event showed that the plastics industry was regaining its strength.
"Numerous exhibitors who came to Friedrichshafen with relatively low expectations were able to transact surprisingly good business," Schall said.
There is no Fakuma exhibition next year; the show does not run in the same year as the K fair (which runs from 27 October to 3 November 2010 in Dusseldorf). Dates for the next Fakuma have been set for 18-22 October 2011.
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