About two months before OTC, we wrote a preview piece predicting that 75,000 attendees would show up to the 2016 event.
Actual attendance was just shy of our estimate at 68,000 visitors, the conference organizers said in a recent trade show recap.
The 2016 decline from last year was about the same as the 1986 drop in number of visitors (not as bad on a percentage basis).
2016 attendance was down about 27,000 people (-28%) from 2015, when 94,700 folks showed up. 1986 attendance was down about 29,000 people (-51%) from 1985, when 56,400 folks showed up.
The last time attendance was this low was 2009, when oil prices were also below $40 in the weeks before the conference.
This isn’t the biggest drop in conference history though. In the early-1980s, foot traffic fell by 49,000 and 56,000 visitors in successive years. If oil prices stay lower-for-longer (sub-$50), we’d be looking for another drop next year, probably to around the 50,000 level or below.
The all-time high was reached in 2014, just two years ago, when over 108,000 visitors showed up.
This year’s conference had about 2,600 companies exhibiting, down only slightly from last year. While the number of companies was the same, there were some notable absences this year, as replacements stepped up to take vacated slots.
In our OTC preview, we expected a little over 2,600 exhibitors – about flat with last year – despite the foot traffic drop, writing:
“While foot traffic will be down, the number of exhibitors will be similar to last year. Exhibitor totals are stickier than visitors in slumps (chart) because there is a waiting list that organizers turn to for substitutes when regulars drop out. Right now, OTC 2016 has 2,659 confirmed exhibitors, down only 112 from last year (-4%).
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