FESPA Global Print Expo will no longer take place in Madrid in October 2020, due to the continued public health risks and business disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. FESPA will now host its next flagship international event at the RAI Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 9-12 March 2021, again co-locating FESPA Global Print Expo, European Sign Expo and Sportswear Pro.
“In March 2020 we took the decision to delay FESPA Global Print Expo by six months in the face of the advancing pandemic and its implications for our exhibitors and visitors. Since then the development of COVID-19 has been dynamic and unpredictable,” FESPA CEO Neil Felton explains. “While many regions are now gradually emerging from lockdown, at this point in time we cannot be confident that we could match exhibitor and visitor expectations of a FESPA event if we were to go ahead in October this year.”
As per Felton early March 2021 offers the strongest alternative, giving exhibitors and visitors time to recover and FESPA time to prepare fully for any new operational requirements.
“Feedback from the market indicates that, having faced the considerable commercial challenges of 2020, our community will welcome FESPA Global Print Expo in March 2021 as an important platform for business recovery and forward progress early next year,” he says.
This new March 2021 edition of FESPA Global Print Expo will replace the originally scheduled 2021 event in Munich, Germany. FESPA will return to Munich in 2022.
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.
