SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Alistair Burtenshaw, exhibition director, is confident that the new developments, seminars and events made the Fair an even more productive and interesting place to be.


Alistair Burtenshaw, Exhibition Director

IT'S TIME TO TALK BUSINESS ... and that's exactly what 13,532 visitors did when they visited London Book Fair.  Achieving a 19% increase on the total visitor attendance as well as an increase in bookseller attendance of 17%, anyone who was anyone in the publishing industry could not afford to miss out on the Springs major publishing event.
A truely international event, the additional marketing focus to international visitors was rewarded with an increase of almost 20%. London Book Fair 2004  dates - 14 - 16 March 2004

Record International Attendance 
There were more overseas visitors at this year’s London Book Fair than ever before. The record attendance marks a massive 20% increase on last year and is particularly notable in the current political and economic climate.Just under 5,000 visitors from outside the UK attended over the three days of the Fair. Total attendance (not including exhibitors) for the event also saw a dramatic rise on last year: there were over 13,500 visitors*, marking a 19% increase on 2002. The number of booksellers was also up, by 17%, to 3,075.Alistair Burtenshaw, Director of London Book Fair 2003, said: " It’s incredible that there have been more overseas visitors this year than ever before – this in spite of the effect media coverage of impending war could have had on London Book Fair.

"I’m equally delighted that the number of booksellers attending has also substantially increased, reflecting the huge range of books, services and events on offer to retailers at the Fair. These figures give a fantastic picture of the state of the international publishing community and the support the industry gives to the event."* Total visitor attendance at the London Book Fair 2003 was 13,532, up on 2002 figures by 19%
* Overseas visitors totalled 4,995, up by 19.7% on last year
* Number of booksellers was up by 17% to 3,075
*These figures apply purely to trade, i.e. they do not include the number of consumer visitors (projected to be 1,000+). They also do not include revisits on any day or exhibitor personnel. Total Fair attendance, including exhibitors, are projected to be in the region of 25,000 (exact figure to be announced shortly).

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2002 LONDON BOOK FAIR
– THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SO FAR

The 2002 London Book Fair was the most successful on record, with the increase in bookseller attendance one of the most encouraging results. Visitor numbers increased with 1,580 UK booksellers attending – an increase of 4.7% - and 1,060 overseas booksellers visiting – an increase of 16.1%.
These were especially encouraging statistics as one of the priorities for the LBF team was to create a more welcoming atmosphere for booksellers. Many of the changes that took place were the result of discussions with booksellers, publishers and suppliers, and the new bookseller mentoring scheme and Bookseller’s Guide were just two of the new features that were realised.
More special events were organised for LBF 2002 with the aim of creating more features of interest for all visitors to the Fair. The first How to Get Published event sponsored by the Daily Mail and WHSmith, attracted over 400 would-be writers and many well-known authors including Joanne Harris, Lisa Jewell, Mike Gayle and Magnus Mills. A new Readers and Writers Night was also introduced as a platform for literary debate. The inaugural event included an interview with Ian Rankin and a debate on the merits of literary prizes with representatives of the Booker Prize, The Samuel Johnson Prize and the Orange Prize. Sponsored by The Guardian Hay Festival and the Orange Prize for Fiction, the evening culminated with the ever popular Author Party, an event designed to bring both author and bookseller together.
The redraw of the LBF site map for 2002 meant the development of dedicated zones could be developed. A new Children’s Publishing Zone was added to complement that of Retail Solutions (non-book products for booksellers) in particular, now centred around the BA’s Bookseller Centre in the National Hall. Some of the new features for 2003 include the development of more of these special areas; a Travel Publishing zone, an Art, Architecture and Design zone and a Christian Publishing zone are in the pipeline. Helping booksellers and publishers make contact while at the Fair is another priority.
The balance between headline-grabbing events and the essential business of the Fair is a delicate one, and the London Book Fair team is aware of this. Although more high-profile events including literary lunches and evening events are planned for 2003, many of these will run outside the halls of Olympia. It is hoped that these will complement the addition of more seminars and debates on industry issues onsite and will develop the beginnings of a London Book Week. This will not only provide a major focus on UK publishing and bookselling at the time of the Fair, but should also have an ongoing effect through the rest of the year.
Next year's dates are 16-18 March 2003 for the essential bookseller event!

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