After discussing the long-standing issue with representatives of the international golf industry, the management of Golf Europe has decided to hold next year’s session from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30, about four weeks earlier than usual. The show will no longer coincide with the Oktoberfest, the annual beer festival in Munich, taking away some of the fun but making it easier to find accommodation in the city. On the other hand, the new earlier dates should encourage a greater number of golf apparel companies to exhibit on the show floor.
It remains to be seen whether the major golf equipment brands will be ready to exhibit at the only international golf trade fair in Europe. They have been insisting for keeping the show’s dates at the end of September, but this time, major players such as Acushnet and TaylorMade stopped exhibiting. They and others cited cost-cutting reasons or the proximity with the Ryder Cup, which was held at Celtic Manor in Wales from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. Others, such as Callaway Golf and Puma/Cobra, decided to present their new collections in the showrooms of the convention center hosting the fair, following the examples of ECCO and other firms.
Also, the dates of Golf Europe largely coincided with those of Golfmässen, the Swedish golf trade show held in Jonkoping on Sept. 27-30. The organizers of that show have decided to keep its dates unchanged at Sept. 26-29 next year.
The total number of exhibitors at the Sept. 26-28 edition of Golf Europe was down slightly to 206 from 220 a year ago. The organizers reported the attendance of more than 3,600 visitors on a daily basis, down from 3,963 a year ago, but citing a survey, they stressed that exhibitors were pleased with the quality of the visitors. Roughly like last year, more than 50 percent of them came from outside Germany, with large contingents from Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
As for Golfmässen, the number of exhibitors remained steady at 60, and they showed 240 different golf brands on 10 percent more space than a year ago. The number of visitors was compared to a year ago, when they were 954, but they performed 1,305 daily visits, up from 1,274.
The survey conducted at Golf Europe showed that 94 percent of the exhibitors were planning to return to next year’s show and that 91 percent were willing to recommend it to others. Despite the absence of some of the major golf companies, 47 percent of the visitors rated the fair as good to excellent in terms of top brand presence.
Timo Regier, recently appointed commercial director for Continental Europe at Callaway, found the atmosphere in the market very positive and noted that its higher-priced products had been well received. This goes in particular for the company’s new Legacy line of premium clubs specifically launched for the Continental European market.
Surveys conducted by Golf Inside indicate that the first half of this year was almost as weak as in the U.K. in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, yet some major golf brands predict a recovery. The surveys indicate that there has been strong price discounting, but price increases will be inevitable for next year.
In the first six months of 2010, sales of golf clubs in the different retail channels declined on average by 0.9 percent in Germany, according to Golf Inside. Declines of 1.5 percent and 2.7 percent were recorded for golf balls and golf clothing, respectively. Golf shoes were down by 1.6 percent.
Taking Austria and Switzerland together, the German magazine calculates that clubs went down by 1.8 percent, but balls and clothing went up by 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Sales of caddies increased throughout the region.
For next year, suppliers are counting on sales increases of between 3 and 5 percent in Germany and Austria and between 2 and 4 percent in Switzerland.
