drupa the world’s leading trade fair for printing technologies, has decided to reduce the trade fair duration from eleven to nine days for 2021. Doing so will respond to the wishes of the partner association VDMA (Printing and Paper Technology Trade Association) and many exhibitors to make the trade fair presentation more efficient and to concentrate the volume of visitors in a targeted manner. This is also in reaction to any continuing travel activities and restrictions.
Fewer overseas visitors expected
“Since we are currently assuming that fewer visitors from overseas will be able to travel to drupa 2021, we consider a reduction from eleven to nine days to be sensible in order to direct visitor flows more efficiently. At the same time, the duration of nine days ensures that running machines can still be shown, which is a unique selling point of drupa,” explains drupa President Claus Bolza-Schünemann.
Despite some corona-related cancellations, the current booking status remains at a high level, with over 1,500 exhibitors and a net hall space of more than 140,000 square meters. This once again underlines the industry’s confidence in the international appeal of the event. The need for face-to-face meetings, acquisition of new customers, or live presentation of running machines still exists. “Many of our customers also see it as their own responsibility to strengthen the industry and provide important impulses personally on-site,” says drupa director Sabine Geldermann.
To guarantee a professional and safe trade fair environment, drupa adapted the general conditions and relies on a hygiene and infection protection concept that is continuously tailored to the latest corona protection regulations and official requirements. Sabine Geldermann points out, “The character of drupa in 2021, due to the pandemic and hygiene regulations, will certainly be different from what we are used to, but it will continue to make a very important contribution to the economic recovery.”
Additional information on Messe Düsseldorf’s hygiene and infection protection concept can be found at www.drupa.com.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
