To the surprise of many exhibitors, Messe Friedrichshafen, the organizer of the OutDoor show, which closed on Sunday afternoon, has reported another increase in trade visitors, saying that their number grew by 210 to a total of 21,730. According to German standards, the figure should be interpreted as daily visits. The most important visiting countries were Germany, with a 40.5 percent share of total visits, followed by Switzerland with 10 percent, Italy with 6.1 percent and Austria with 5.2 percent. Other countries with strong attendance were France (4.2%), South Korea (4.1%), the U.K. with 3.0 percent and Russia with 2.6 percent. While they were all happy with the usual quality of the visitors, some exhibitors felt, however, that the traffic at the Friedrichshafen venue was calmer than in the previous years. They were concerned about the consequences of the bad last winter, excess inventories in the pipeline, suicidal pricing on the internet as well as the generally unfavorable economic environment in large parts of Europe. They were particularly worried about the situation in Italy. The next OutDoor show will be held on July 11-14, 2013 (more in The Outdoor Industry Compass).

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