NPE2018 drew more than 56,000 attendees

It’s official: NPE2018 drew exactly 56,034 attendees, which is a 1.7 per cent increase over the attendance at the previous edition of the trade show in 2015.

More than 2,100 companies from 121 countries gathered at NPE2018, which ran in Orlando, Fla. from May 7-11 at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC).

With 2,174 exhibiting companies occupying more than 1.2 million net square feet of sold-out exhibit floor space, NPE2018 was the largest in show history, according to the Plastics Industry Association, which sponsors the triennial show. It was also the heaviest show on record, with more than 21.7 million pounds of freight brought into the show.

The 56,034 confirmed registered attendees came from almost 19,000 unique companies according to show data that were evaluated and validated by a third-party data analytics company. Nights spent in hotel rooms also increased by 3.2 per cent over 2015, to 65,632.

The actual confirmed attendance number falls short of the 65,000 people who had been predicted to attend, but trade show officials drew attention to the fact that exhibitors left the show satisfied with the experience. “It’s hard to describe the elation on the trade show floor,” NPE2018 chairman Glenn Anderson said in a statement. “We’ve heard plenty of testimonials from our exhibitors about how productive this year’s show was, with many outpacing their lead acquisition estimates by the first day.”

Exhibiting companies came from 35 nations with representatives from those companies hailing from 63 countries outside the U.S. In descending order, the ten countries with the largest number of participating exhibiting companies were China, Canada, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, India, France, Turkey, Switzerland, and Austria.

The Plastics Industry Association recently confirmed that the next three editions of NPE – to be held in 2021, 2024, and 2027 – will also be in Orlando at the OCCC.