Co-located events unveil innovations and new markets for business growth
FESPA Global Print Expo 2024, European Sign Expo, Personalisation Experience and the inaugural Sportswear Pro (19 – 22 March 2024, RAI Amsterdam) attracted a global audience of senior decision-makers prioritising investments for business growth. The four co-located events and the extensive feature and conference programme unveiled new opportunities, highlighting thousands of innovations and trends, as well as new vertical market prospects.
Firming up investment plans was high on the agenda of visitors to the four co-located events with 92% of the audience looking to invest in equipment in the next 12 months. The collective median budget was over EUR 2.7 billion.
In line with this, the event attracted an international audience of senior decision-makers. 76% of attendees were business owners, directors, partners or managers and 85% of visitors shared that they are involved in the decision-making process for their business.
Over the four days, 12,706 unique visitors attended the events with 45% of visitors attending for more than a day. Visitors travelled from 120 countries, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Italy, Belgium, France, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden bringing the largest portion of the audience.
Visitors commented on the host of solutions at the show, as well as the opportunity to speak to industry experts. Gabriello Gambale, Director of Infinite Graphics Solutions, shared, “I love FESPA, we always pick up something new every year.“
Michael Ryan, Head of FESPA Global Print Expo, comments, “From conversations with exhibitors and visitors at the events, the buzz of creativity and eagerness to learn and explore new solutions and ideas manifested an inspiration to explore new opportunities in everyone. Feedback from our visitors was extremely positive, praising the quality of our international exhibiting community showcasing solutions dedicated to speciality print and signage. It’s a truly unique feeling to meet with so many like-minded businesses and to connect people from all around the world with the same purpose – to grow and develop our industry and this incredible community. I’m looking forward to seeing what the year brings in the wake of the events and I can’t wait for the multitude of ideas and investments from the show to pan out.”
Rigte Groenbroek, General Manager, EMEA, Onyx Graphics, commented, “FESPA is a vital event to build international brand awareness, gather market feedback, and connect with our international channel partners. FESPA offers us the perfect mix of end users and distributors from every part of the EMEA region, as well as being the ideal environment to build our relationships with the print and finishing technology manufacturers whose equipment is driven by our RIPs. We’re already thinking about our presence at FESPA 2025 in Berlin.”
Bernado Lourenco, Business Development Manager, Apametal, said, “For us, FESPA is a great event for printing and signage. As we started the process of expanding our business internationally, exhibiting at FESPA was a no-brainer. We knew we were entering a competitive trade show and FESPA supported us from the beginning.”
Laura Thompson, Digital Marketing Specialist, Kit Builder, commented, “We thoroughly enjoyed attending FESPA. Not only did it introduce us to a new industry and clients, but we also got to delve into what else is happening in the sector. Each of the co-located events was filled with innovation and creativity, and it’s a pleasure being part of them.”
Mike Horsten, Global PR and Press Manager, Agfa, added, “We all know that FESPA is the place to be; it’s a great trade show to promote products. It’s truly international and the global audience reflects that.”
With the biggest line-up of exhibitors to date for European Sign Expo 2024; the second iteration of Personalisation Experience with its brand new Personalise Make Wear feature; as well as the inaugural Sportswear Pro, the co-located events and content-led feature programme provided visitors with the opportunity to explore vertical markets, grow their business and expand their offering.
The line-up of global industry experts and thought leaders at the Personalisation Experience and Sportswear Pro conferences delivered a content-rich programme that attracted visitors from around the world, stimulating lively debates and networking conversations as well as new partnership opportunities.
FESPA Global Print Expo and European Sign Expo will return to Messe Berlin, Germany, from Tuesday 6 – Friday 9 May 2025.
About FESPA
Founded in 1962, FESPA is a global federation of Associations for the screen printing, digital printing and textile printing community. FESPA’s dual aim is to promote screen printing and digital imaging and to share knowledge about screen and digital printing with its members across the world, helping them to grow their businesses and learn about the latest developments in their fast growing industries.
FESPA Profit for Purpose
Profit for Purpose is FESPA’s international reinvestment programme, which uses revenue from FESPA events to support the global speciality print community to achieve sustainable and profitable growth through four key pillars – education, inspiration, expansion and connection. The programme delivers high quality products and services for printers worldwide, including market research, seminars, summits, congresses, educational guides and features, in addition to supporting grassroots projects in developing markets.
