May 13, 2002 -- IIR Exhibitions has announced that the overall attendance figure for IPEX 2002, which took place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham UK from 9 – 17 April 2002, is 65,451. The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) is auditing the IPEX 2002 attendance figures and the data is with the agency for final verification. As IIR Exhibitions predicted in the preliminary announcement issued on the penultimate day of the exhibition, this represents just over 70% of the number of people who attended Ipex 98. Also in line with expectations are the level of overseas visitors and the quality of visitors. Overseas visitors accounted for 36% of the total attendance, slightly higher than the percentage of non-UK attendees that came to Ipex 98, and the percentage of senior personnel attending the show rose from 65 to 70%. "It is gratifying to see the statistical data confirming the anecdotal evidence from the exhibition", comments Ashley Whitworth, Marketing Director. "Our exhibitors told us that the quality of visitors was very high and most of them met or exceeded their sales targets for the event. We hope that the contacts made and leads taken at the exhibition turn into solid business in the coming months and that IPEX 2002 will mark the start of an upturn for the industry." A range of post-show exhibitor and visitor research is still being conducted and IIR Exhibitions will produce a complete report containing findings from the surveys for distribution in the autumn.