MUNICH, Germany (BRAIN)—Bike Expo will be renamed ISPO Bike next year and move to Aug. 16 to 19 as it looks to become a must-attend industry tradeshow.
The new dates put the show just two weeks before Eurobike, the industry’s leading global tradeshow, a move that will likely force exhibitors to choose between the two shows.
“The postponement into August is our response to explicit requests from the industry, whose clear majority stated in a poll that a later date was preferable. We consider ourselves a service provider and partner for the bicycle industry and are happy to fulfill the many requests for a later date,” said Klaus Dittrich, chairman and CEO of Messe München, Bike Expo’s organizer.
Stefan Reisinger, project manager for Eurobike, said that while Eurobike sees the Munich show as a serious competitor, he is not concerned that Bike Expo will usurp Eurobike from its top position.
Eurobike is schedule for Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 in 2012.
“Our concept in the future and very much what we are focused on is what’s important and relevant for the European dealers. That’s what we want to have here at the show. That doesn’t mean we need to have everybody. We want to have relevant European brands for the dealers. That’s our concept and will be in the future,” Reisinger said.
One challenge facing Eurobike is limited capacity and high demand has forced it to turn away some exhibitors, and the somewhat off the beaten path location in Friedrichshafen can make finding hotels difficult.
With its urban location close to public transportation, Bike Expo and its venue offer future growth potential for the international cycling industry with plenty of space for all bike segments to grow in one location, according to organizers.
Bike Expo’s new name seeks to capitalize on the popularity of the ISPO brand worldwide. The ISPO network includes tradeshows for the action sports and outdoor industries.
“In order to visualize this network more clearly, we restructured the ISPO brand. The various tradeshow and services are now bundled under the brand name ISPO with the goal to considerably increase our customers’ exposure,” Dittrich added.
Bike Expo starts tomorrow with a demo day followed by the indoor show on Thursday through Saturday at the New Munich Trade Fair.
In its third year, Bike Expo has attracted 17 percent more visitors than last year with 301 exhibitors from 22 countries attending. The number of foreign exhibitors is up 46 percent.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
