Despite the economic downturn, reduced floor space and lagging registrations, sales at the 17th annual Expolit conference--which wrapped up earlier this week in Miami--were on the rise, organizers said.

The largest trade fair in the U.S. for the Spanish-language Christian literature and music world drew nearly 5,000 people a day to view the exhibits and attend the nightly concerts, featuring many of the leading Christian Latino musicians. Held May 14-19 at the Doubletree Miami Mart/Airport Hotel and Exhibition Center, Expolit attracted hundreds of booksellers, publishers, distributors and music label representatives along with thousands of members of the general public.

"We were cautious coming in, but pleasantly surprised at the success of the show," said Peter Cerra, president of the Spanish Evangelical Products Association (SEPA) and senior sales director at Editorial Vida (Zondervan). "The sales on the floor were some of the best we've seen in the last few years."

SEPA Executive Director and Editorial Unilit President David Ecklebarger added: "There was optimism amid the economic crisis. The distributors in Latin America haven't been hit very hard, even though things haven't looked that good in the United States with a number of bookstores going under and struggles being faced by distributors."

Marie Tamayo, executive director of Expolit, said the conference "exceeded our expectations." "We were thrilled with the response from the public and the publishers," she added. "(Last) Friday was (the) best day for sales that publishers have had in the last four years."

Wendy Rodríguez, exhibitors coordinator of Expolit, said the number of exhibitors was down from 150 last year to approximately 100, but companies that had booths saw increased traffic. "Some people were afraid there wouldn't be enough business this year, but some said it was even better than last year," Rodríguez explained. "The distributors and publishers said they got the business done they wanted to do."

Keynote speakers were Operation Mobilization founder George Verwer, pastor and author Henry Blackaby and Argentine evangelist Dante Gebel. The event's nightly concerts were broadcast live for the first time across Latin America via DirecTV.

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