Expectations were high and ambitious. Even so, they fell short of the success that the ISE audiovisual exhibition has ended up being in its twentieth edition, the fourth at Fira de Barcelona. It has surpassed the records of the last pre-pandemic edition in Amsterdam and has brought together 73,891 professionals from 162 different countries over the last four days. The growth is 23% compared to last year, well above what was expected. Wednesday was the strongest day, when 51,617 visitors gathered in halls packed to the brim at the Gran Via de l’Hospitalet venue.
Round figures, like these twenty years of life, invite us to look back and the organizers have done so these days, remembering the modest beginning in Geneva and the progressive growth of a fair that has already become one of the three largest in Barcelona. The relationship with the City Council and the rest of the administrations has flowed from the first moment and all parties involved are aware that the ISE is as important as Mobile for the local economy. “It is a leading international show with great growth potential, with a long way to go,” says Constantí Serrallonga, general director of Fira de Barcelona. The head of ISE, Mike Blackman, for his part, celebrates the milestone achieved with the intention of “continuing with the commitment to being a global platform for industry professionals.”
In that sense, “regardless of the number of visitors, the edition has been the consolidation of the importance that the local industry is giving to audiovisual technology,” considers the president of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia, Miquel Rutllant. According to calculations by the Generalitat’s competitiveness agency, Acció, the thirty companies that have participated under its umbrella have held more than 1,100 meetings, 38% of them with foreign companies. The forecast is that they will generate close to three million euros of business volume over the next year from the contacts made at the ISE.
One of the companies that has debuted this year with an attractive independent stand is Simon. “It has allowed us to get closer to potential clients and have a huge audience to share our projects,” says the head of the IoT ecosystem of the Catalan company, Jordi Satorras, making an “extremely positive assessment both in terms of visibility and potential collaboration agreements.” business”. His presence is an example of the wide range of exhibitors present with solutions of all kinds for the broad audiovisual sector.
However, the main attention continues to focus on the major players in the sector. One of the busiest spaces throughout the week has been the Epson stand, in a privileged position within the fair. “At times there was no way to find a place to hold meetings with all the people there,” highlights Raúl Sanahuja, very satisfied with the results obtained this week at the fair. It is the harvest of the work done during the previous weeks and even months preparing the room. “Important clients have already come with the papers ready to sign,” celebrates Sanahuja.
The large companies present have also signed the contract for the best-located spaces for the next edition, which will take place from February 4 to 7, 2025.
