“Visitor numbers are significantly higher than two years ago,” said Christoph Riess, CEO for the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). “They are slightly lower than last year in Hamburg, but that was a very special year due to the hype about tablets, so last year you simply had to attend while now the interest in tablets is settling down to business.” The 41st annual exhibition included 306 exhibitors from 30 countries, including printing press manufacturers, editorial and advertising system providers, new media providers and other suppliers to the newspaper industry.

Expo kicked off the World Newspaper Week, which includes the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, which get under way on Thursday. Mr Riess cited the multinational nature of the audience and pointed out that by day two of Expo, more than 200 Congress delegates had entered the halls to talk with exhibitors. “It was interesting to see publishers and editors investigating technologies at the show,” he said.

The Expo also featured a Tablet and E-Reading Conference and Focus Sessions on newspaper production, as well as presentation of the winners of 2011 XMA Cross Media Awards. Complete coverage can be found at: http://www.worldnewspaperweek.org/blog. There were a number of major announcements and developments unveiled at Expo, including orders for press equipment, workflow solutions, content management systems, and, naturally, tablet applications.

Next year’s Expo will be held in Madrid, Spain, from 29 to 31 October 2012.