FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN)—Erich Reiss, the man behind Eurobike, is now telling people to go fly a kite—or to surf one, more accurately. He’s floating the idea of Kiteworld Europe, a kite surfing trade fair, as an adjunct to next year’s Interboot boat and water sports show.
Interboot, held in the same Messe Friedrichshafen exhibition area as Eurobike is, makes great use of the adjacent Lake Constance and is a natural venue for the kite surfing industry, he believes. By next fall, Messe Friedrichshafen will have 12 exhibition halls, plus conference center and meeting rooms, totaling 75,000 square meters of indoor space—about 18.5 acres. That means there’s room for expansion.
“The proximity to the airport and to the Zeppelin shipyard offers quite unusual possibilities and incentives. Perfect for kite surfing demonstrations would be the 4,500 square meter sized exhibition lake directly in front of hall A1” Reiss said. Kiteworld Europe could link to Interboot either as a three-day, trade-only event or a nine-day trade and consumer show. Interboot 2009 is scheduled for September 19-27.
—John Crenshaw
