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More overseas visitors attended this year's LIWF

Published:  27 May, 2010

Recently-released official figures show that more overseas visitors attended last week's London International Wine Fair - despite the travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

Over the course of the three-day event at London ExCel 13,693 people attended - down slightly on the 13,893 recorded for the 2009 fair.

However, 3,170 travelled to the fair from overseas, a figure up slightly on last year's 3,133.

On the first day of the 30th anniversary fair - Tuesday, May 18 - 6,367 people visited.

Day two - Wednesday, May 19 - was the best-attended day of the week with 4,445 people visiting the exhibition (plus a further 2,274 revisits from day one), while on the final day 2,881 people visited (plus a further 2,288 revisits from days one and two).

Event director James Murray said: "The LIWF'S anniversary year has seen extremely positive feedback from across the board and it has been so pleasing to see the wine trade getting back on its feet after a difficult eighteen months.

"It's extraordinary to have welcomed more international visitors this year, despite the travel problems that many experienced, and our UK audience has remained very solid in the face of a shrinking market and declining number of retailers."

Exhibitor Martin Krajewski, owner of Chateau de Sours, said: "LIWF really exceeded our expectations this year.

"Not only did we sell 500 cases of wine off stand to completely new clients, but we also signed up new accounts through meetings held at LIWF.

"The show put us in front of international buyers who have been making genuine order inquiries."

Winemaker Stanimir Stoyanov, of New Industrial Company, said: "Even though it's been a tough year for the industry it was great to see the show full of all the right people and those who work at all the right places.

"It was very interesting to see LIWF attracting all the new world regions, such as India, as it keeps the show fresh and interesting to visitors."

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