COMMUNICASIA, SINGAPORE--The organizers of CommunicAsia estimate that close to 65,000 people would have walked through its doors by the time the trade show closes at 5.30p.m. today.

That is an 8 percent increase over last year's attendee numbers, according to Singapore Exhibition Services (SES). The number includes both exhibitors and visitors at the show, which began on Tuesday. At the start of the event, the organizer had expected 60,000 delegates to converge at the four-day show.

According to Stephen Tan, chief executive at Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), the first two days of the CommunicAsia trade show alone saw 20,764 visitors, out of which 53 percent were from overseas. This is an 8 percent rise over 2005, he told ZDNet Asia Thursday.

BroadcastAsia 2006, which is a separate exhibition held under the CommunicAsia umbrella, registered a 21 percent increase in attendees, said Tan. Of the 7,457 visitors, more than half were foreign visitors.

Tan also noted that visitors who attend Broadcast Asia on the third and fourth days are typically repeat visitors of previous days, as "the serious visitor cannot finish the show in one day".

Although the number of visitors to CommunicAsia 2006 has increased, Tan expects SES' revenue from the show to be only "marginally" higher than last year. He cited the direct competition from the ITU Telecom World 2006 trade show, which is to be held in Hong Kong in December, as the reason.

Noting that a number of exhibitors chose to conserve their budgets for Telecom World in Hong Kong, and set up smaller booths at CommunicAsia, Tan said he was "happy that our show stood itself at the same size". He declined to reveal how much SES will rake in from this year's event.

SES is already taking bookings for 2007, and Tan said the numbers so far are "very encouraging". "If the world economy has no problems, I'm very upbeat that next year will be a better show," he said.

Wheelers and dealers
In terms of the actual value of business transactions generated at this year's event, Tan said the figure could be higher than the original projection of US$4.5 billion, as many transactions are for the long term.

ZDNet Asia spoke to some overseas visitors who said CommunicAsia is a good platform for those in the communications industry looking for new technology and products.

Wallace Panlilio II, who works at a Philippines mobile solutions company called Tincan Mobile, told ZDNet Asia that he was at the show to look for the latest developments in telecoms and mobile technologies.

"It's a good way to learn, in the shortest possible time, what's going on," he said, adding that it is also a good opportunity to meet the vendors or providers of the latest technologies.

Hasan Shahab, marketing and programming director of Indonesia broadcasting company Televisi Anak Space Toon, told ZDNet Asia that he planned to spend three days at the show, shopping for broadcasting equipment and software.

For some exhibitors, the show gave them just what they were looking for--sweet deals.

1 2 Next 

	Back to CommunicAsia

Post your message here