The exhibition's organiser is planning to consult both exhibitors and visitors to find out what they want from the show, which attracted around 870 visitors to the Brighton Metropole hotel between 23 and 25 May.

Two steering group meetings will take place towards the end of June to discuss ideas to change the focus of the show, which is renowned as much for its networking and social events as for its product sales.

Charlie Hastings, Newstec marketing director, said that ideas for the 2007 show could include reducing the space for stands, running more technical workshops and conferences, or targeting developing sectors of newspaper publishing such as new media.

"We're going to talk to visitors and exhibitors to find out what they want from the show. The key people are coming to Newstec, so the quality of visitors is there, but we need to find out how to recreate the buzz," he said.

He said that the 20% drop in attendance was largely due to consolidation in the newspaper industry.

But he insisted that the future of the show was not under threat, and reported that 70% of the show's 86 exhibitors signed up for 2007 before leaving Brighton.

Hastings added that the 2007 event was very likely to stay in Brighton, due to its popularity within the industry.

Story by Josh Brooks