Optrafair hopeful of best attendance ever

Optrafair organisers have reported they are hopeful of attracting more visitors 'than ever before'.
With just 22 days left before Optrafair 2003 opens its doors, new pre-event registration figures given to optician by the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians Ð the body which organises Britain's biggest bi-ennial exhibition Ð reveal that over 8,000 people have signed up to go to the Birmingham event a month before it takes place.
According to the FMO, that represents a 210 per cent increase compared to the same stage before the previous exhibition two years ago.
Around 12,000 attended then, when the trade fair was held over three days in April 2001.
'We have raised the profile of the show this year,' commented Neil Appleton, one of the FMO's show organisers, 'and have direct mailed 38,000 potential visitors from a comprehensive mailing list.
'This is three times larger than the mailings to previous shows and has obviously helped to ensure that everyone knows about the Optrafair show in good time.'
Last time optician reported that 'initial figures' from the 2001 event showed that 11,555 attended, down 3.4 per cent on the previous exhibition in 1999.
With the likelihood of war in Iraq, and the on-going fear of terrorist attacks, foreign visitors planning to visit the NEC for the show may be put off travelling to Britain to attend the event.