Last month the show launched its visitor campaign and cited that around 180 exhibitors had already committed to the event, including Canon, Elitron and SwissQprint.
The show has now crossed the threshold of 200 exhibitors, halfway to its 400-plus target, with the likes of Agfa, Brother, D.gen, Durst, Summa and Zund now joining the growing ranks of kit, substrate and consumables manufacturers committing to the event, which is set to take place, at the third time of asking, across six halls at the RAI Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam from 9 to 12 March 2021.
According to Fespa CEO Neil Felton exhibitors so far had broadly taken stands with footprints on par with their previous appearances, with some increasing their presences.
He said exhibitors see the event as “a vital springboard to the sector’s sustained recovery” and that feedback from potential visitors was that “virtual alternatives just don’t meet their needs”.
“The associations and the printers we’re speaking to are excited that there’s a show in March and they really do need it, there’s a real keenness for it,” he stated.
“What you can do online is great and what you can do face-to-face is great, but you can’t do exactly the same thing both ways. A visitor will not spend eight hours on a website looking at pieces of kit and comparing them.”
Fespa has published the show’s live exhibitor list on the event website, with the floorplan due to follow shortly.
Printer and embroidery equipment manufacturer Brother is the gold sponsor of next year’s show.
Marketing manager Folker Stachetzki said: “The cancellation of the trade fair in 2020, as well as all other restrictions caused by the pandemic, were tough for us, as probably for almost everyone.
We’re therefore looking forward to Fespa 2021, to meet interested visitors, to exchange experiences with other exhibitors, and to be able to show our new direct-to-garment printer and other innovations."
While Felton welcomed this week’s news of the potential availability of coronavirus vaccines, in terms of their impact on confidence, he said they were unlikely to have much practical impact and added that rapid testing was perhaps more relevant.
However, he said that Fespa and its partners remained “far from complacent” and would press on regardless with its plans to ensure the event was Covid secure.
“We’re working with the RAI, we are working with be Amsterdam municipal government, and independent contractors all to ensure that we put on an event that is as safe as is possible, there are whole range of things we will be doing whether we have vaccines or rapid testing or not.”
