Palme Middle East show continues to grow
Published: MEA
MIDDLE EAST: Palme Middle East is the region’s only trade event dedicated to professional Audio, lighting, A/V, systems integration, music and entertainment solutions. Now in its 9th year, Palme occupies a key position in the global trade show circuit and provides the Middle East with its own unique industry forum.
Co-locating Install for A/V and Systems Integration and Smart Home technologies and Musac for musical instruments, equipment and accessories, Palme has established itself as the region’s largest trade show for professionals in this burgeoning industry.
‘Market dynamics are now changing and regional buyers are not travelling as much to Europe or the US to source products and services as they used to three years ago. There is an immense potential for business growth and finding newer market segments for manufacturers who wish to explore the Middle East as a market. Above all, the extraordinary spending power makes this region unique,’ said Mustafa Iqbal, senior marketing manager for Palme. ‘The purchasing authority of visitors that attended the 2010 edition of Palme Middle East accumulated to a whopping US$ 1.035 billion, which clearly indicates the size of this burgeoning market,’ he added.
The show witnessed 19 per cent increase in number of exhibiting companies, 95 per cent of which confirmed that the quality of visitors and their return on investment for participating at Palme had met or surpassed their expectations.
‘We had another great show this year, despite the travel plans being somewhat disrupted from the UK. We were able to really increase market penetration which is made easy with a show like Palme,’ said Gordon Cooper, director of SES, UK.
Roberto Coleman, director of Smart-HDL Business Development that also exhibited in Palme 2010 added: ‘Not only were we pleased with the number of visitors that visited our Exhibition but we (also) learned how to use limited resources more effectively and discovered cost-effective ways to build up our pipeline while reaching a much boarder spectrum of prospects.’
The exhibition welcomed 200 exhibiting companies from 35 countries and more than 6000 highly targeted and focused buyers and industry professionals from 68 countries that also presented a 4% y-o-y increase in international participation.
Scheduled from 26 – 28 April next year, Palme 2011 will feature areas for laser & lighting demos, simulators & home automation areas, music & DJ equipment demos as well as conferences, certified education courses and free to attend product / technology focused seminars. Another highlight for 2011 will be the second Palme Middle East Awards where achievements will be rewarded in 10 categories covering Audio, A/V and Lighting sectors.