Also calledTime on floorVisit durationEngagement time
How it is measured
Directional scanning at the entrance gives total dwell per visitor. Scanning at hall or zone boundaries gives dwell by area, which is what turns a floor plan into a heat map. Session scans add a third layer: how much of the stay was programme and how much was floor.
What it tells you about the plan
Short average dwell with high attendance usually means the floor is not holding people — content is clustered at one end, catering is in the wrong place, or the far aisles have nothing to walk towards. Anchor exhibitors, food and the theatre placed deliberately are the strongest levers.
Why exhibitors ask about it
Footfall past a stand is a function of dwell and of where the stand sits. An exhibitor deciding between an aisle at four hundred euros a square metre and one at six hundred is really asking about dwell, and a zone-level figure answers them with evidence rather than opinion.