Major audiovisual trade fair to move to Barcelona in 2021

The ISE congress, the audiovisual (AV) sector’s largest international trade show, is to get a new permanent home in Barcelona. Integrated Systems Events, the company that organizes the annual fair, announced on Thursday that from 2021, the trade show will be held every year in Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue. The first Barcelona edition in 2021 will take place between February 2 and 5.

According to ISE, the decision to move the show from Amsterdam to Barcelona is a sign of the fair’s growing importance. “With annual growth in ISE exhibitors and attendees approaching 10%, and the international AV market forecast to grow by 5% per annum through to 2021, it was concluded that Integrated Systems Europe was outgrowing its popular Amsterdam location,” said a statement.

The 2018 edition of the fair, which was held in February, attracted 80,923 attendees, some 22,000 for the first time, and hosted 1,296 exhibitors in the 53,000 square meter venue, with ISE confident that next year these figures will be exceeded. “The RAI and Amsterdam have provided a fantastic location, been great partners and contributed to the success of the show,” said ISE managing director Mike Blackman.

Yet, with the fair expected to continue growing a move was inevitable. “We conducted extensive exhibitor and attendee research and visited many major exhibition centres in Europe before making this important decision,” said Blackman, who added: “By announcing our move to one of Europe’s largest and most prestigious convention complexes, we can now continue to focus on creating a unique experience for everyone.”

Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via convention center boasts two exhibition venues, and hosts some 140 international trade shows every year, involving 30,000 exhibitors and attracting over two million attendees per year. In all, Gran Via features over 400,000 square meters of floor space in 14 exhibition halls.