Inaugurated last year as PALA India, this year's exhibition (4-6 October, Bombay Exhibition Centre) will be spread over 3,000sq.m of exhibition space and is expected to feature around 200 brands distributed across 115 stands.
This is the target for exhibition manager James Raffoul, who has been taken on by IIR Exhibitions to maximise PALME India's potential. Having previously worked on high-profile exhibitions for Brintex and Emap, Raffoul says he couldn't resist the challenge to consolidate an incipient event in such a fast-emerging market.
"The fact that last year the show attracted 120 exhibiting companies spread over 75 stands, with 2,500 visitors attending, indicates enormous confidence and market potential," he said. "The market is growing exponentially, and India is now the second fastest growing major economy in the world." While Bollywood remains the central entertainment focus, the events industry is showing a huge GDP growth of around 9%. "The large number of new hotels, houses of worship, sports complexes and shopping malls all require technology infrastructures and communications systems," emphasises Raffoul.
(Jim Evans)
