The 2007 Trade Exhibition Report has recently been published by ABC, providing a guide to the attendance figures of those trade events audited by the organisation that took place last year.

Although many people in the exhibitions industry question the value of the ABC's audited attendance data, stressing that events should be judged on criteria other than visitor numbers, such as quality of attendee, there is no doubt that this information plays a vital role in exhibitors' decisions on which shows to participate in.

The report includes comparative attendance figures for trade exhibitions across 30 industry sectors. It lists the top 20 exhibitions by attendance, attendance analysis by stand space occupied, and trade exhibitions listed by market sector, organiser, alphabetically by name and by venue.

Exhibition sectors include building and construction, catering and hospitality, education and training, entertainment/broadcast industry, fashion clothing/textiles, manufacturing and engineering, media, marketing and advertising, medicine and health, retail and wholesale, and the travel industry.

"The release of the Trade Exhibition Report 2007 allows all the ABC audited event figures to be shown together in one place and reiterates to event organisers the importance of having independently verified data,” said Jan Pitt, ABC's director of exhibitions. “Organisers can use the report to promote their ABC attendance figures and ensure face-to-face marketing retains its importance within the marketing mix.”

The report is available to download free from the ABC website at www.abc.org.uk