Independently of the number of daily visitors, which was slightly down from one year ago, the mood throughout the mammoth show was decidedly positive, in stark contrast with the doom and gloom of the general economy. Besides the increasing concentration of the trade show business on fewer strong players, it just proves our theory that the weather can have more of an impact on the sporting goods sector than the economic “climate,” especially when it comes to skiing and other outdoor sports.
As Ispo remains a largely ski-driven fair, the abundant snowfall all over the Alps and in other parts of the world in the last few weeks had a direct impact on the world’s largest sporting goods fair, giving retailers the ammunition to show interest in buying more than or as much as a year before in this and in some other categories. However, while some of them have reordered as of last month, ski retailers will want to wait until the ski season is over to commit themselves.
There was, however, a marked difference in the number of visitors from one booth to the other, as part of a concentration of the market on fewer brands. Numerous important exhibitors and many small suppliers of interesting new products reported a very good turnout at their booths. Only some minor players were unhappy, indicating that retailers are becoming more selective. They are making their own selections on the basis of brand equity, the quality and the appeal of the products, and the margins they can obtain from their suppliers.
A total of more than 60,000 daily visitors were counted at the fair, compared with 64,000 one year ago, and close to 66 percent of them came from outside Germany, down from 70 percent. The number of visitors was slightly higher than one year ago in the first two days, but a big public transit strike in Munich on the third day contributed to reduce the final score, encouraging many visitors to leave earlier. Some checked in only on the fourth and final day.
Thanks in part to the direct intervention of Klaus Dittrich, heralded as the likely successor of Manfred Wutzlhofer at the helm of Messe München, Ispo’s organizers handled the strike relatively well, putting into place frequent shuttles to the fairgrounds from two nearby exits of the S-Bahn, the rapid-transit network of Munich, which was still in service.
The number of exhibitors at this year’s Ispo declined slightly to 1,950 from 2,026, but they came from 50 countries instead of 47, and 83 percent of the brands represented by them were foreign.
The relative strength of the ski market showed up in the preliminary figures from the more specialist trade shows held over the past few days across the Atlantic in the U.S. While the SIA snow show in Las Vegas attracted 5 percent more visitors than a year earlier, Action Sports Retailer (ASR) in San Diego and Outdoor Retailer Winter Market (OR) recorded declines of about 5 percent. The PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando was also said to have been quieter, due in part to flight problems.
