The mood meter of the global bike industry continues to point upward, according to the team at Eurobike. Taking place in Friedrichshafen in Germany, the Eurobike 2015 ‘underscored its role as the world’s leading exhibition for the bicycle trade with a comprehensive market overview of the industry, attendance by important decision-makers and a new exhibitor and visitor record.’
From 26-29 August, 45,870 trade visitors (2014: 46,300) from 103 countries gathered information at the stands of 1,350 exhibitors from 53 nations. Industry representatives reportedly praised the excellent contacts at the show – from wholesalers and retailers to 1,766 media representatives from 39 countries, and 20,730 consumer bike fans (2014: 21,100) on public day.
“The response this year was very good. Our customers are pleased with the excellent discussions and the good business – with the best possible weather and flanked by the trade show flair at Lake Constance that is unique in the world,” said Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann, summing up the 24th edition of the leading trade show before going on to describe further developments for the coming year.
“For the Eurobike 2016, we’re implementing a new concept with permanent testing opportunities and a second public day, and are altering the timetable to achieve this.”
With more than 300 registered world premieres, Eurobike’s organizers note that the show helped to demonstrate ‘the innovative power of the entire bicycle industry during four summer days.’
“Eurobike 2015 impressively reflected the dynamism of mobility on two wheels and shifted the optimistic mood in the industry up another gear,” explained Eurobike Head Stefan Reisinger at the close of the show on Saturday.
According to a survey of trade visitors, 70% of guests rated the economic situation of the bicycle industry as growing and 20% as steady. A walk through the exhibition halls pointed to the e-bike as a strong growth motor of the bicycle industry. This category is expected to open up markets of entirely new target groups in the future. Networking and multimedia applications on bicycles are also becoming more important.
Bernhard Lange, Managing Director, Paul Lange & Co OHG, said “In its 24th edition, Eurobike again more clearly than ever demonstrated that is the world’s leading trade show for the bicycle industry, and rightly so. The mood in the industry is excellent. It is clear that bike riding is booming and becoming more and more important for transportation policy, but also in regard to its socio-cultural significance.”
He continued, “We are heading into the new year very optimistic and are already looking forward to the Eurobike’s silver anniversary in 2016.”
Gaetan Vetois, Europe Marketing Director of SRAM, said “For us, it’s really important to be at Eurobike. It’s a big time to meet all the dealers and our customers and to show our new products. We’ve been getting a lot of people and a lot of excitement. So it’s an appointment we’ll never miss.”
Frank Sirringhaus, Managing Director Sigma Sport, added “At Eurobike you learn what is going on in the world of bicycles and accessories. Where can you see that better than here, where everything from A to Z is represented?”
The Eurobike Academy, including its convention function, aims to underscore Eurobike’s important position with its many conferences, seminars and workshops taking place during the show. “These meetings are conducted by internationally renowned experts and were a large draw for industry representatives from all of cycling’s business areas,” said Project Leader Dirk Heidenreich.
In addition, Eurobike Demo Day on Tuesday last week, plus Travel Talk, the Eurobike Awards, the test course and Trend Show were reported to be big hits with show visitors.
Eurobike 2016: ‘new concept and altered timetable’
The 25th Eurobike will implement some changes for next year, so that the testing opportunities of Demo Day, which previously took place on the day before the trade show, will now be integrated as a permanent component of Eurobike. This means that testing services will be expanded for trade visitors and in the future for bike fans too.
Another development for Eurobike 2016 will be the introduction of a second public day on the Sunday, so that more consumers can indulge their love of all things bike. As a result, the 25th Eurobike will be held with the altered timetable of Wednesday 31 August, to Sunday 4 September 2016. Wednesday to Friday is reserved for trade visitors while the weekend is specifically dedicated to consumers.
“We’ve initiated these changes in concept as a way to help further stimulate worldwide enthusiasm for two-wheeled mobility,” explained Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann and Eurobike Head Stefan Reisinger.
“We are pleased that numerous influential partners are already firmly convinced that this is a step in the right direction. Of course, all the Eurobike participants are fully aware that this also presents new challenges that will need to be overcome.”
Eurobike has also revealed some selected Exhibitor feedback on the new Eurobike concept for 2016:
Bernhard Lange, Managing Partner, Paul Lange & Co OHG: “We very much welcome the new arrangement with three trade-visitor days including continuous testing opportunities. Furthermore, offering consumers a chance to enjoy the broadest range of testing opportunities on Saturday and Sunday at the future Eurobike Festival is the next logical step in strengthening the Eurobike as a global trading hub.”
Thomas Raith, General Manager, Derby Cycle: “We at Derby Cycle support the further development of the event concept at Eurobike, which will result in a stronger business-to-consumer focus as well as expanded opportunities for testing and hands-on experience during the entire duration of the trade show.”
Reto Aeschbacher, Brand & Marketing Division Manager, Scott Sports: “In the past 20 years, Eurobike has developed from a pure trade-only fair into a global industry platform. This has led to changing needs, so that besides product presentation, it’s also become enormously important to showcase the brand and its brand environment. There’s also been an increasing desire to offer distributors and consumers a direct experience of the product through testing opportunities. That’s why boosting consumer appeal with a second consumer day while also enhancing testing possibilities at the trade show is the right decision.”
Claus Wachsmann, Marketing Project Manager, Cube Bikes: “Worldwide enthusiasm and interest in bike topics has been increasing. So for Cube, it’s only logical to focus more strongly on this aspect. We’re looking forward to raising this to a new level at Friedrichshafen next year.”
