Cannes-do attitude at Informa

ATTENDANCE at this week's 3GSM mobile phones show in Cannes is returning towards normal, even though the number of paying delegates is down by 30%, exhibitions organiser Informa has said.

About 5,000 executives have paid to attend the seminal event in the mobile phone industry's calendar, about 1,500 fewer than last year but many more than the company's worst case scenario of 2,500 delegates. Informa chief executive David Gilbertson believes the market is now over the worst.

Significantly, about 10% of those attending this week's event are Americans travelling again after the 11 September attacks. Prices for the conference were pegged at last year's levels but Informa said a 25% bigger show with a 13% rise in sponsorship had 'largely offset' the smaller number of paying delegates.

In November, just 600 people attended a similar phone show in Barcelona that had attracted 2,500 the previous year. This week's 3GSM conference is crucial to Informa revenues, contributing about 10% of total sales. The company's cut from the conference is expected to be broadly in line with that for 2000.