Mifed organising company Rassegne has pledged to tackle one of the most persistent complaints of the market's attendees - the terrible air-conditioning system - which chilled this year's dwindling number of delegates.

"Next year, we will be upgrading the air conditioning system," promised Manlio Armellini, managing director of Rassegne. The move follows years of complaints about the state of infamous Mifed air-conditioning - a system renowned for re-circulating stale, smoky air and also for being on the decidedly cool side.

Armellini has also promised other changes, including redesigning the layout of the market, giving the communal areas a face lift and upgrading the technology in the screening rooms.

The news came as Rassegne revealed that attendance at MIFED was down 15% this year. 3,749 people attended from 65 countries. Last year 4,410 people attended. According to the figures, 1,380 companies were at this year's market with 1,063 buyers in attendance.

Rassegne said the attendance downturn was mainly due to cancellations from the US, and to a lesser extent, Asia. Certainly, many of the most high profile US companies - such as Miramax and Good Machine - were conspicuous by their absence from the halls of the Fiera. Few Japanese buyers attended - Gaga was the only Japanese company out in force.