BEA Attendance Off in 2008
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 6/3/2008 8:17:00 AM
Total registration at BookExpo America was 28,494, up from the 27,143 that attended the show in 2003, the last time BEA was in Los Angeles, but down from the 36,112 registrants in New York in 2007. There was a dramatic decline in book buyers, with the count falling from 8,102 in New York to 5,539 this year. Spokesperson Roger Bilheimer said the decline was due almost entirely to a drop-off in librarian attendance which was down by about 2,000. The cost of travel, the fact ALA will be held in California in less than a month plus the fact that most of BEA’s librarian outreach programs have been centered on the East Coast were cited as major reasons for the decline in librarian attendance.
Show manager Lance Fensterman said there were many parts of the show he thought went very well, but he acknowledged that Los Angeles was not a popular destination for many book industry members. In particular, Fensterman believes the West Coast location kept European attendance down as well as that of U.S. agents, something that hurt the overall rights business. While attendance from Asia was up, it was not enough to offset declines from Europe.
Addressing the question of whether BEA will be back in LA, Fensterman said BEA is contractually obligated to hold one more event there, but he said if his customers tell him they don’t like LA the show won’t return. “There is no question Los Angeles cost us some business this year,” Fensterman said.
