FESPA CEO Neil Felton at FESPA 2024 in Amsterdam.
FESPA CEO Neil Felton has confirmed that the Global Print Expo will be hosted in Berlin from 6-9 May in 2025.
Felton told Sprinter in an exclusive interview that there were some reasons for the decision.
“Eastern Europe is a fast growing market and Berlin also has a fantastic structure for halls and we also hosted the exhibition in Munich last year,” he said.
Felton said he has enjoyed returning to Amsterdam for the first time since 2021, in what they describe as the ‘four-year cycle’ that coincides with the Drupa exhibition every four years.
“This has been one of the strongest exhibitions within our four-year cycle. The last time FESPA was in Amsterdam was in 2021, and before that, it was in 2016 when we had four halls back then, and we have six halls this year – so this year is about 33 per cent bigger than 2016.
“In 2021, we were very lucky as we were five weeks into Amsterdam opening up and then five weeks after the FESPA exhibition was held – it was locked down again. We managed to hold a show in that 10-week period and it was one of the most emotional and incredible shows I have ever been to. Amsterdam has a warm place in my heart – I love the city and I love the venue.
“We have 512 exhibitors overall, and we have grown in textiles and across our Sportswear Pro and we also now have the Personalisation Experience which we didn’t have in 2016 so this has introduced a number of new companies since then.
“We are now building on what we have got and making sure it is right for the market, and evolving the event – and expanding into textiles as well as digital signage.
“We have a community of printers that are looking at new opportunities and if you go back to early 2000s it was our community of screen printers that first grabbed digital printing and it is the same with textiles, our printers have adopted textiles, and then garment and now interior and they are adept at these changes and we have to service that.
“This market of digital technology is maturing and no we need to find where the new niches are. We can’t stand still. The wrap market is now worth in excess of $3-4 billion and there is more potential available in this market.
“Australians love coming to FESPA – every year I see more and more Australians. I see more Australians coming here than some countries who are only two or three hours away and I think that is incredible. The first person I saw this morning was Keith Ferrel and he was already sourcing new opportunities for his business. Australians love coming to FESPA and we love to have them here.
“For printers looking to come to FESPA in 2025 – any type of product in the speciality print space is here and it is very easy to manage and easy to navigate. There are 1,250 printers that come here from around the world. There was one printer who I just spoke to who has a business worth 600 million Pounds ($A1 billion) and he is looking at buying five different factories in four different countries including Australia – and if you are here – you can meet someone who is about to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in your country.
“If you come here – you come to fun and attractive places that you want to go to and you have the best time outside of the show as well as inside the show. There are also strong education features that are also incredibly informative.”
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