81,268 people attended #ISE2019 this year, a very small increase over the 2018 attendance figure of 80,923. With only 345 more people attending, growth here has undoubtedly slowed. Note that the 2018 attendance figure showed a remarkable 8.6% year-on-year increase over the year before (2017). With next year being the last time that ISE will be held in Amsterdam, and people already getting excited by the move to Barcelona for #ISE2021, I think you can safely say that attendance numbers have now topped out (for the next few years at least).
Instead of focussing on that attendee headline number then, the organisers stressed that the Wednesday saw the largest ever one-day attendance figure for ANY show at the Amsterdam RAI, and the number of attendees on the last day, Friday had passed 20,000 for the first time. They also stressed that, we quote, “a remarkable 32% were attending ISE for the first time” – an interesting statistic to quote, as you could also take this to mean that approximately 25 – 30,000 people who attended ISE last year did not attend again this year!
Anyone who trod the halls, all 15 of them, permanent and temporary will pay testament to the fact that it was their largest ever show floor, measuring a whopping 56,100 net square metres. This housed 1,301 exhibitors but that number of exhibitors was only five more than the previous year (there were 1,296 exhibitors in 2018).
17% of those who exhibited (225 companies in total) were taking space at ISE for the first time – again this also means that 220 companies who exhibited the year before did not return to exhibit again.
Mike Blackman, Integrated Systems Events Managing Director, commented “As an exhibition, as an unbeatable source of education and professional development, and as a destination for a global industry to come together and do business – ISE 2019 has delivered. Our Opening Address, Closing Keynote, and our two projection mapping features were fantastic showcases for how event professionals and others can harness AV technology to better realise their creativity.”
One of the nice innovations for #ISE2019 was the Main Stage theatre in Hall 8. This was the venue for high-level thought leadership presentations, best practice case studies and expert-led panel discussions, many of which were ‘standing-room only’. Content was provided by AVIXA, CEDIA, AV Magazine and ISE itself, and the presentations were live-streamed to the ISE website.
Unlike at #CES2019 where it was widely reported that 40% of the exhibitors were Chinese, there was no geographic breakdown of those who exhibited.
#ISE2020 will be held at the RAI Amsterdam from 11-14 February 2020.