5% of all the visitors from 32 nations came from Portugal

The international, professional Fair specialised in biomass technology held in Valladolid each year closed its 10th event on 24th of September with a final headcount of 15,041 visitors. This is a smaller figure than last year`s and not the target set by the Spanish Biomass Energy Association (AVEBIOM), the event organisers, when they initially announced the event.

However, the fall in visitor numbers compared to other years is due, according to AVEBIOM, to attendees being more specialised and better informed – a key factor that means the fair is becoming increasingly professionalised rather than just a crowd puller. The organisers feel that the event`s reduced participation means its professional profile is on the up.
In all events, and despite the lower than targeted numbers Expobiomasahas become consolidated as the professional meeting with an outstanding position in the ranking of the 5 best sector fairs worldwide, which is how it has been classified on more than one occasion by AEBIOM (European Biomass Association).
Nevertheless, AVEBIOM sees the drop in visitors as something that can clearly be improved upon, which is why the Expobiomasa team is rethinking parts of its strategy and intensifying some of the activities aimed at attracting professionals to future events. 

Portugal: the most represented country invited
70% of the professionals arriving at Expobiomasa came from outside the Castile and Leon region. Of the people from the region itself, 13.8% came from Valladolid. Because the fair is highly oriented towards professionals, participation of visitors from Castile and Leon decreased compared to last year, whereas the number of professionals from the sector coming from other Spanish regions was up 15% on the previous year. In 2015, Expobiomasa registered professionals from 32 nations, 5% of them from Portugal, one of the invited countries at the event. 

As for the event`s impact on Valladolid, hotels in the city had to hang out the “no vacancies” sign yet again this year and that was even with the fair being held a month earlier to avoid clashes with other events in the city.

Exhibitor occupation and participation
The fair, organised by AVEBIOM in Valladolid every year, was host to 543 enterprises and brands, coming from 27 countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, the US, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. 26,000m² of exhibition space was in use.