ISE 2023 attendance numbers are in, and the massive display of audiovisual and systems integrations surpassed all expectations. Record visitor numbers, stimulating new content and appearances from royalty all worked to make this year one for the industry history books. It’s a welcome revival in a climate where many industry tradeshows are gradually coming back but have still been unable to reach pre-pandemic numbers just yet.

ISE 2023 had 58,107 unique attendees from 155 countries, alongside record-breaking occupation in the city’s hotels, bars and entertainment venues, and with exhibitors reporting unparalleled footfall on booths across the largest ever ISE show floor. The first day of the 2023 show even set the record for the highest number of opening day attendance ever recorded for ISE.

Thought leadership and inspiring stories were themes for the varied keynote speeches held during the show. The opening day BK Johannessen of Epic Games highlighted how technology trends in the gaming industry are driving audiovisual innovation to new heights of creativity.

One of the oldest and best-known competitions in international sailing, the Americas Cup provided the backdrop to Stephen Nuttall’s keynote on day two of the show. As the sailing race’s head of television, he related his first-hand experience of the unique technical challenges the event sets and the spectacular results when everything goes to plan.

Leadership and Inspiration Set the Stage for This Year’s ISE

The first day of the 2023 show set the tone for the week with the highest number of opening day attendance ever for an ISE show, visiting the record 56,870 square meter of floorspace over the show’s 6 halls and the Audio Demo Rooms, where iconic French pioneer of electronic music Jean-Michel Jarre unveiled his latest album.

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The trend then continued for the rest of the week with the final total of 58,107 attendees to ISE making 133,606 visits to the show floor. On the first day, King Felipe VI of Spain even took a tour of the show floor stopping by a few booths to take in a small sample of the technology on display.

The Royal Party was accompanied by Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona, Núria Marín, Mayor of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Laia Bonet, 3rd Deputy Mayor of Barcelona. Pere Aragones, President of the Government of Catalonia was also in attendance at ISE 2023 and took time to visit some of the 70 Catalan-based companies exhibiting at the Gran Via, Fira Barcelona this week.

Of special note was the brand-new Content Production and Distribution zone making its debut in Hall 6. Offering a blend of creativity and technical solutions, the new zone provided inspiration for integrators and end-users in this fast-growing and exciting area. Following this auspicious beginning the zone will be back, in an even more impressive version for 2024.

Praise for ISE 2023

Exhibitors and organizers alike were united in praise and admiration for the turnout of ISE 2023.

Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “It’s been an extraordinary week and it’s hugely gratifying for us to look back and realise we’ve delivered an exceptional show for our industry and the wonderful city of Barcelona. We’ve had unprecedented visitor levels to the show, so much inspiring content and features on display, and ground-breaking visits from the King of Spain on Tuesday and the President of Catalonia on Thursday to add both a royal and a political seal of approval to the show. This week at ISE 2023 confirms that we can safely say the global AV and systems integration industry is back with an impressive bang!”

Christine Schyvinck, CEO, Shure said: “It’s been a few incredible days at ISE! Lots of inspiring conversations with partners and old friends. We were honoured to welcome His Majesty the King at our booth, and we won the Inavation Award for Audio Technology! We had a very successful week, and we look forward to continuing all our conversations.”

Luis Garrido, executive director of Alfalite said, “We are delighted to have been part of ISE 2023. The show reinforced Alfalite’s strategic agreements with international partners and allowed us to showcase our products to regional and overseas potential distributors.” Garrido said about the visit of His Majesty, King Felipe VI, “We are a Spanish company and the only European LED Screen manufacturer with the latest technology, so we felt honoured by the King’s visit to our company stand.”

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