New York in mood to buy

Attendance figures for New York's International Vision Expo East (March 27-29) were down 12 per cent, but organiser Reed Exhibitions pointed out that feedback from attendees and exhibitors at the show was positive in spite of the economy.

Tom Loughran, event director, said that smarter shopping on the redesigned show floor reflected the quality of visitors, who were there to buy, not just browse. Third-party audited figures for the exhibition at the Jacob K Javits Center will be available six weeks after the show. 'It is notable that International Vision Expos are the only optical events to continually audit their attendance despite the up and down swings in the economy,' he said.