Attendance figures for BookExpo America, held from May 1-5 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, were announced on May 9.

The final total attendance figure was 31,726. Convention officials note that this number includes 2,167 day badges, which were not available at the convention in Chicago in 2001. Total attendance without the day passes in 2002 was 29,559. Total attendance last year in Chicago was 21,898.

The total number of book buyers attending BEA in '02 was 7,049. The comparable number last year in Chicago was 6,132.

Greg Topalian, vice president and show director for BEA, noted in a prepared statement that "I am enormously pleased by the growth in attendance figures at BEA this year which, of course, is partly a result of our decision to bring the show back to NYC. We have made a concerted effort over the past 11 months to build attendance in several critical areas and this hard work, combined with our return to NYC, seems to have paid off. But increased attendance is only one measure of a successful convention and so we need to be ever mindful of continuing to evolve BEA so that it delivers a quality business environment to every constituent."

Future dates and cities for BookExpo America:

• May 30 - June 1, 2003, Los Angeles
  
• June 4 - 6, 2004, Chicago
  
• June 3 - 5, 2005, New York