Postponing the show was the only course of action for the Fespa, and comes just days after its first ever Asia Pacific show finished, with international visitors unable to get to the Bangkok event due to the chaos at the airports as protestors tried to bring down the government.

The Mumbai exhibition will now take place from February 28 to March 2 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. Fespa has apologised for any inconvenience that may result for exhibitors and visitors further to this decision, but says it believes that it is essential to show a sensitive and responsible approach to the current situation in Mumbai.

Fespa consulted with exhibitors who fully support the decision to postpone the event and are committed to the new dates.

The first-ever Fespa Asia-Pacific 2008 exhibition, which took place November 28-30 at in Bangkok, attracted a strong number of visitors, despite the political demonstrations that closed Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport only days before the exhibition.

The event still succeeded in attracting 5247 visitors, all but 314 from Thailand itself. More than 2000 international visitors who had pre-registered to attend the event were unable to travel to Bangkok, with an inevitable impact on the international visitor profile. The non-Thai visitors that attended the event were already in Thailand before the airport demonstrations commenced.

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