the absence of celebs did not mean fewer people at the expo but it did dull the experience for many slowdown in auto sector and coronavirus scare caused celeb footfall to decrease by almost half this year while some celebs did attend frequent visitors like john abraham sachin tendulkar akshay kumar didntthe section calledwhy attend on the official website of the 2020 auto expo has one point that states visitors can get up close and personal with movie stars sports icons for years celebrity spotting has been integral to the mega auto show this year however a combination of factors most notably slowdown in the auto sector and the coronavirus scare meant that the celebrity footfall at the event was negligible advt from a dozen celebs in 2018 to only eight attending this yearheld at the india expo mart in greater noida between feb 7 and 12 the expo registered a footfall of over six lakh highest ever as per the organisers the celebrity footfall however reduced by almost half the previous editions of the event have seen about a dozen celebs every time with the 2016 expo seeing visits from 15 celebrities this year the number was eight shah rukh khan was among the rare big names who visited the expo this year but he did so on the opening day of the event which is open only for exhibitors and not the general public in fact the only film stars who visited the expo on days open for the public were gul panag and soha ali khan most of the other celebs including daler mehndi and huma qureshi visited on the first two days when the show wasnt open for general public this was in stark contrast with the previous editions that saw names like akshay kumar priyanka chopra kareena kapoor alia bhatt and ranbir kapoor among others visit on the days open for public sachin tendulkar has missed only one expo since 2002 it is the first time in a decade that sachin wasnt present at the biennial event sachin tendulkar has missed only one expo since 2002 it is the first time in a decade that sachin wasnt present at the biennial event advt there were fewer launches than ever at the expo this timeaccording to an executive with a japanese auto manufacturer at the expo the stars are mostly called by the brands they endorse to launch a new vehicle but if you notice there were fewer launches than ever at the auto expo this time thats why most brands did not bother calling their brand ambassadors the number of launches has been low because of a general slowdown in the auto sector in india someone like john abraham who has been constant at the show for over a decade was conspicuous by his absence akshay kumar drew huge crowds during his visits in the previous two editions above the actor at the expo in 2018 akshay kumar