Messe München made a good decision to transfer its Ispo China show, held In Beijing on Feb. 23-25, from its former venue to CNCC (China National Convention Center). The new facility is just 400 meters or so away from the “Bird's Nest” in the 2008 Olympic Stadium. Due to heavy smog on the first day of the show, it was impossible to see the visually impressive stadium from the entrance of the venue, but then the weather cleared up in the last two days.
The former fairground was nice with its smaller halls, but in the end they were too shabby to open the stage to a really international show with a focus on China. The CNCC is a better venue to host the increasing number of international brands that are entering the Chinese market or trying to expand there, attracted by the booming economy and the government's new focus on consumption.
Daily visits by trade professionals were up by 9 percent to 17,700. The visitors were welcomed by 276 exhibitors, up by 29 percent from one year ago, representing 350 brands from 19 countries. The number of non-domestic companies was 94 – up by 32 percent compared with the previous year.
The gross exhibition surface was up by 20 percent to 30,000 square meters, although only about 10,000 m² were effectively rented out. The balance comprised the aisles, unsold areas to host events such as the fashion show and the huge entry hall as well as Ispo China's partner show for ski facilities, Alpitec China, organized by Prowinter in Bolzano. Alpitec China had a net exhibition surface of nearly 600 square meters, but hosted the most relevant players in that specific market: 60 companies showed, of which 13 were from Italy and six from China.
Despite the increased surface, there is still a waiting line for companies that want to exhibit at Ispo China, partly to benefit from its match-making services with Chinese distributors and retailers. The organizers are still debating whether they should double the gross space by renting out an adjoining ballroom and a hall in the basement.
New exhibitors at Ispo China included big names such as Kettler, Briko, Rossignol, K2, Flow, YKK, Völkl, Salewa, Oakley, Phenix, Cratoni, Osprey, Deeluxe, Adidas Eyewear and others. A highlight of the show, organized by Messe München under the leadership of Kerrin Müggenburg, was again the matchmaking project for potential new arrivals on the Chinese market. A few brands took part in the project, including Mammut, Hilleberg, Haglöfs, Kettler, Klättermusen and others. This tool was dominated by Nordic brands because the matchmaking project was hosted by the Scandinavian Outdoor Group (SOG).
Altogether Ispo China was again dominated by outdoor companies, while the snow sports brands continued to have a rather modest appearance, including Fischer and Atomic with their tiny booths in the so-called Austrian Village. The largest stand of a winter sports company was probably that of Tecnica Group, featuring Tecnica, Nordica and Blizzard, but not Lowa. The latter's Chinese partner, Northland, is pretty much committed to the Asia Outdoor show held in Nanjing in summer.
Klaus Dittrich, chief executive of Messe München, presented the new corporate identity layout of Ispo in Beijing as he did a few weeks before in Munich. Just as Ispo Winter in being renamed Ispo Munich, Ispo China will change to Ispo Beijing for the next show. Next year's dates for Ispo Beijing have not been announced yet.
Some exhibitors criticized the current dates in late February. They would prefer to have a show in December, which seems to be impossible for practical reasons. Apparently, these exhibitors would like to have Ispo as an order event rather than a mere marketing-focused show. This year's edition of Ispo, however, did a great job by not interfering with the traditional New Year holiday season.
At the opening press conference, Dittrich was assisted by Mark Held, the secretary general of the European Outdoor Group, which finally sealed a deal to officially support Ispo Beijing as a strategic partner. No similar agreement has been made so far with Asia Outdoor, which is backed by Messe Friedrichshafen, or Outdoor China, the controversial attempt by Messe Frankfurt to create its own outdoor summer show in June.
