Intermat hoping for 200000 visitors

Maryvonne Lanoë, the director of the Intermat Exhibition, says she hopes the show will attract 200000 visitors.

Speaking exclusively to CE on the penultimate day of the event, Ms Lanoë said, "The exact figures are not available yet, but we hope we will hit that sort of level."

Ms Lanoë also said she felt Intermat had attracted large numbers of visitors from outside France. "We have a good feeling about that, and walking around the show you hear a broad range of languages being spoken."

Given that several major manufacturers such as Terex, Sandvik, Atlas Copco and even France's Manitou have stayed away from this year's Intermat due to difficult market conditions, such high visitor numbers would be a good result. However, Ms Lanoë feels that those manufacturers that are at Intermat are taking the opportunity to put a positive message out to the industry.

"The key message of Intermat 2009 from many of the manufacturers is that they are saying to their customers ‘We are here for you.' It is a difficult period of course, but this has always been a cyclical industry. I think there is a feeling at Intermat that people can see some light at the end of the tunnel."