Attendee Quality Up, Quantity Down at CeBIT

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 4/4/2005

Although attendance was down at this year's CeBIT Hannover, organizer Deutsche Messe was pleased with several metrics.

The March 10–16 information technology event drew 480,000 attendees, about 9,000 fewer than last year. But 88 percent of them were trade professionals, up nearly 4 percent. Attendees visited an average of 27 booths, up from 21 booths in 2004.

CeBIT Hannover was audited by FKM - the Society of Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics.

Joachim Schafer, president of Deutsche Messe subsidiary Hannover Fairs USA, said he was "absolutely pleased," particularly with the increase in international visitors and the quality of attendees.

"All of us in the tradeshow industry are aware that cost and time considerations have led to a drop in the number of attendees. Specifically, the number of travelers in buying teams has decreased. Given this phenomenon, CeBIT's attendance of 480,000 is a strong show of confidence in the re-energized information communications technology marketplace and CeBIT as its largest international platform," Schafer said.

CeBIT drew 6,270 exhibitors, up from 6,109 last year. Some 54 percent of CeBIT's trade visitors were senior managers, up about 2 percent from the previous year. And nearly 22 percent were executive managers, compared with about 15 percent in 2004. About 146,000 visitors said they play a major role in their company's purchasing decisions, about 15,000 more than last year.