Drupa has hit 100,000m2 of stand space booked and has 900 companies confirmed as attending the show at the applications deadline at the end of last month.
At this point the allocation of space according to application and location of that space in the vast Messe area has not been made or announced for the show which opens in May 2024. These talks will continue until April next year.
However, while the list of 900 companies includes the likes of Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, Landa, Komori and Muller Martini, there are some glaring omissions at this stage. There is no HP on the list. Its absence is significant. The company occupied a complete hall at the show in 2016. Drupa organisers will be working hard to ensure that when the doors do open on 28 May 2024, HP will be present. It fell out with the organisers in 2016 when it was announced that the show was to move to a three-year cycle, a decision reversed when some key exhibitors objected.
But it is not alone. Currently there is no applications from Kodak, from Ricoh, from Canon or from Manroland Sheetfed though Manroland Web Goss has booked space.
Even after the official deadline for registrations, Messe Dusseldorf continues to register a strong demand for exhibition space, which can still be accommodated, says the organiser.
“Current booking levels and the positive verdict received by exhibitors make us very confident and optimistic – despite the geopolitical and economic challenges – that Drupa 2024 will again be the world’s most important industry meeting place,” says exhibition director Sabine Geldermann.
“With around 75% international attendance on the exhibitor side, Drupa occupies an outstanding position by global standards.”
Both Heidelberg and Koenig & Bauer are under new management since 2016, both have expressed their commitment to the event. Andreas Pleßke, K&B CEO is also chairman of the Drupa committee. He says: “Many things have changed compared to planning in previous years. The gap between the digital world and the machinery in operation needs to be bridged. For visitors this means new worlds to be experienced.
Heidelberg has blown hot and cold on the show in recent years and had planned a much smaller presence had Drupa taken place in 2020. CEO Ludwin Monz adds his endorsement in the official release: “For us, drupa is a showcase for our leading technologies and innovations in commercial and packaging printing. Heidelberg wants to continue to shape the future of the print media industry and we look forward to seeing our customers again in Düsseldorf in 2024 under the motto ‘We create the future’.”
