Interior decoration, label applications and signage were all areas the companies taking part in the Fespa Economy Survey saw opportunites in.

Three quarters of those surveyed expect the market to grow in 2012 despite 52% stating that the market has yet to fully-recover as 2011 draws to a close.

According to the 225 respondents, 20.4% said sales in 2011 were better than they expected while 40% experienced in-line sales over the past 12 months.

More than half surveyed were printers, while a fifth were resellers and 10% manufacturers. Equally, 57.3% that took part are based in Europe while the reamining respondents stem from North America, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East.

A third of respondents said investing in new wide-format equipment would enable them to print on an expanded range of media and promote new applications, the focal point of this interest was UV inkjet followed by latex and aqueous technology.

Of the challenges that lie ahead in 2012, 80% of respondents said digital displays will continue to impact wide-format digital print applications, with POP graphics and billboards expected to be affected.

Neil Felton, managing director of Fespa, said it was "heartening" that respondents of the survey had "optimism in their own entrepreneurialism".

He added: "It is a very positive sign that over 70% of respondents plan to diversify their business to increase their bottom line. This commercial intelligence will inevitably stand PSPs in good stead over the forthcoming year.

"The findings are also encouraging for the Fespa Digital 2012 event. No printer needs to feel they are at a standstill; there are proactive business decisions they can consider, for example, can they try to implement new technologies or processes, diversify into different wide format applications."