Frankfurt Book Fair Exceeds Expectations

The organizers of this year's Frankfurt book fair, which ended on Sunday, said the event exceeded the expectations of both exhibitors and visitors from the publishing industry. In total, 6,691 exhibitors from 110 countries, and 268,000 visitors attended the fair, a slight increase over last year's figures. "The atmosphere of optimism among the exhibitors and the big interest from both the media and the public in new titles for the fall will positively influence the book trade," said Dieter Schormann, director of the stock market association of the German book industry. The fair's director, Volker Neumann said he was satisfied with the level of book sales at the event this year, adding that visitors no longer come only with the expectation of finding great bargains. The Frankfurt book fair is the largest event of its kind. This year's special focus was on books from the Arab world.