Frankfurt still our ’Mecca’

Despite the often quiet aisles in Hall 8, the international book business agreed it had been a productive Frankfurt 2005. Rights, distribution and coedition trading were all solid, with spontaneous stand business replaced by tight meetings schedules.
Dan Downham, Egmont’s international sales and marketing executive, said: "It was a lot quieter than last year: there was less passing trade but more publishers are buying in the pre-booked appointments. The dynamic has changed."
The American publishing and retail presence at the show was generally agreed to be down, although firm figures are not available. But a strong showing from the Far East (see below) and eastern Europe ensured a stream of new business for English-language publishers.
Rights trading was driven by acquisitive Continental publishers, particularly from Germany, France and Holland. David North, Pan Macmillan m.d., said: "We were very busy with lots of deals, but there’s been nothing stellar." Antonia Pelari, rights and special sales director for Scholastic UK, added: "People are being pushed less on advances because most publishers spent a lot of money before [the show]."
A leap in weekend attendance from the German public helped fuel an overall 6.3% rise in visitors this year. The final attendance at the five-day event was 284,838, including more than 70,000 on Saturday--the busiest day in the fair’s history.
The fair’s chief press officer Holger Ehling said preliminary results from a customer survey showed 95% of visitors were happy: "We’re very satisfied. The Korean Guest of Honour display was smashing--they really landed on the cultural map. The Brits and Americans complain if it’s too quiet and complain if it’s too crowded."
The costs of the fair are still high, but at a meeting between publishing bodies and the city’s hoteliers a new pricing structure was proposed. Set pricing tiers for one, three and five-day stays at the luxury hotels could mollify those finance directors left in the office.