Bucking the trend

Trade visitors coming to Bilbao for the 15th Ferroforma trade fair from 20 to 23 October numbered 21 266. That is 14.6 per cent more than attended the event in the year 2000, when 18 588 visitors were recorded. Juan Garaiyurrebaso, chief executive of the Bilbao fair organisation, is pleased to note that Ferroforma is bucking the trend that was evident in Cologne and Chicago.
However, the majority of trade visitors (59.8 per cent) came from Spain itself, especially from the north of the peninsula, from Catalonia, Madrid, Levante, Galicia and Andalusia. A total of
1 332 visitors travelled to the fair from abroad.
Increases were seen in the number of visitors from Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland and France. Also participating in the exhibition were specialists from Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The number of visitors from the Americas was up by 11.2 per cent, particularly as a result of participation by Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Argentina. And, finally, the number of Asian visitors rose by 16.4 per cent.
According to a visitor analysis, 27.5 per cent of participants were executive directors, 18.7 per cent were owners or entrepreneurs and 15.4 per cent departmental managers.
This year saw a sharp rise in visitor numbers.
The international character of the fair was confirmed by the exhibitor side above all: over 50 per cent of the 1 208 exhibiting companies came from abroad (31 countries). They occupied the entire exhibition space of 90 000 m². Certain big names were missing in Bilbao, as was the case in Cologne and Chicago as well, but Garaiyurrebaso is confident that the complete spectrum of the industry will come together on the new exhibition site in Ansio/Barakaldo for the 2004 event.
Ferroforma 2002 was on last version to be staged in the current premises of the Bilbao international fair centre. Available from 2004 on the new site will be a display area of 120 000 m² with parking for 4 000 vehicles, along with a congress centre, hotel and shopping gallery.
Ferroforma 2002 offered a whole palette of services, which included the organisation of group travel for trade visitors. Also available was a leisure programme offering tourist, gastronomic and cultural activities.