ISPO Bike to return in 2013

MUNICH, Germany (BRAIN)—Munich’s ISPO Bike show closed on Sunday after a four-day run in Bavaria. In its fourth year, ISPO Bike drew 290 exhibitors and 6,000 trade visitors from 46 countries, according to organizers at Messe München International, where the fair is held.

The show will return next year for its fifth edition, and organizers plan to announce the new dates in the next 10 days. For its first few years, the show was held in late July, but organizers moved it to Aug. 16 to 19 this year, which caused some grumbling among exhibitors due to its proximity to Eurobike. Eurobike, the industry’s largest tradeshow, starts Aug. 28 in Friedrichshafen in Southern Germany, and has long been a beacon for brands to have the following season's products prepared. Adding a second German show to the mix has complicated plans for some exhibitors, particularly those traveling long distances to attend. But, this year, ISPO Bike grew increasingly international with visitors from Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic and China.

“The highest increases at ISPO Bike came from China and Taiwan, among others,” said Klaus Dittrich, CEO at Messe München. “This development underscores the increasing importance of the trade fair in the important Asian market.”

According to Dittrich, in a survey, 37 percent of the trade visitors rated ISPO Bike as very good to excellent, while a further 38 percent rated it as good. Fifty-three percent also believe ISPO Bike will continue to grow in importance, and 31 percent said they think the trade fair will maintain its consistent importance.

ISPO Bike has steered in the direction of becoming a venue to support trends in e-mobility and urban cycling. The test track at its e-mobility hall offered 250 test bikes this year. It has historically been an important show also for ZEG, Germany’s largest retail buying group, and as such, has attracted the group’s top customers.

“ISPO Bike’s profile intensification on the urban and e-mobility topics is the right step for us, particularly with regard to our Flik folding bike brand. Ultimately here in Munich we were also able to show off our premium quality Rotwild brand mountain bikes to a high purchasing power clientele,” said Peter Schlitt, managing director at ADP Engineering.

More than 10,000 consumers visited ISPO Bike on the public day, a drop from recent years due to the cancellation of the Go Big or Go Home dirt jump contest. Organizers stepped away from that event in order to concentrate on the e-bike, pedelec and urban cycling categories.