The 18th annual OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen set records across the board, with 21,520 visitors (+5 percent) and 1,012 media representatives (+10 percent) from around the world coming together with 890 exhibitors (+3 percent).
There is a vitality and character to the fair that is unique and we combine all the elements that make the outdoor sector such a vibrant and exciting place to be involved with summed up David Udberg, president of the European Outdoor Group (EOG) at the close of the show.
Four days on the shore of Lake Constance have demonstrated the great potential of the outdoor industry.
The healthy growth that the outdoor industry has been experiencing in the past few years is reflected in the OutDoor said Klaus Wellmann, CEO of the Messe Friedrichshafen. Mark Held, secretary general of the EOG, was similarly pleased about this years edition of the show. The clouds cleared, the sun came out and everyone was in a positive mood as the outdoor industry makes the most of their gathering on Lake Constance.
International participation in the OutDoor is of a very high quality explained Project Manager Stefan Reisinger on the shows closing day. Sixty-two percent of the OutDoors industry visitors came from abroad, with the strongest increases in North America and Asia. All in all, 91 countries were represented at the show. Once again, the OutDoor also drew a lot of media representatives to Lake Constance: 1012 Journalists from 32 countries came to see 200 products make their world premieres at the show.
Rolf Reinschmidt, senior vice president Global Outdoor adidas, says: The OutDoor is the ideal platform for us to present our athletic collection and to better establish ourselves in the industry. We were especially pleased about the visit of our Chairman of the Board, Herbert Hainer. He was amazed with the dynamism and the mood of the show here in Friedrichshafen.
Markus Bötsch, general manager for sales at Jack Wolfskin, is also looking forward to a positive future: We are very pleased with the positive mood of the customers and have met some very optimistic and pro-active dealers. We consider the OutDoor a good platform to meet and exchange views with our international partners. Ernst Schweble, managing director of Mammut Germany, agrees: Once again, it was a very, very good show. Everyones mood was very positive and they are not letting the somewhat weak sales of the past few months get to them.
A poll of industry visitors to the OutDoor underlined the shows international character: 62 percent of the industry visitors to the show came from abroad. 95 percent of visitors rated the economic future of the outdoor industry as improving or stable. In response to the question of whether a visit to the OutDoor 2011 was worthwhile, 95 percent answered yes-and 92 percent have already decided that they will come again next year. The OutDoor 2012 will take place from 12 to 15 July.
