• New location – ispo china winter 08 at more spacious China International Exhibition Center with clear segmentation
• THE sporting goods trade platform in Asia with 329 brands on 20,000 sqm
• Outdoor segment very strong, boardsports on the rise
• New strategic co-operations with Nielsen Business Media and FieraBolzano
• Very well received side program: 4th CORC organized in cooperation with Gore-Tex, 3rd APSC presented by Toray, ispo china Ozark Bouldering Competition, Quiksilver Nightrail Session and much more

New location – ispo china winter 08 at more spacious China International Exhibition Center with clear segmentation With 11,108 trade professionals (2007: 9,043), the 4th ispo china 08 (February 24-26, 2008) ended with a new visitor record after three exciting and informative days at the China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) in Beijing. The move from the former, smaller location at the China Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing, where last year’s show attracted 9,043 trade professionals on the first three trade-only days, to the larger CIEC provided the perfect venue and atmosphere for the International Tradeshow for Sports, Fashion and Lifestyle Brands in Asia. 329 brands (2007: 300) from 21 countries and various side events on a total of 20,000 square meters (2007: 16,500 sqm) reflected the ongoing fast development of the Chinese and Asia-Pacific sporting goods markets. ispo china 08 was held in five halls of the CIEC with a clear segmentation into the special communities Ski, Boardsports, Outdoor, and Ski Resort Development and proved to be the meeting point of the Asia-Pacific sporting goods business.

Significantly higher pre-registration numbers prior to the show already heralded the new visitor record. With 5,051 pre-registrations (2007: 2,160), both the ispo china 08 exhibitors and the organizing body, Messe München International (MMI), confidently kicked off the show on Sunday, February 24th, 2008. In his opening speech at the official opening press conference, Manfred Wutzlhofer, President and CEO of Messe München, emphasized the importance of the Asian sporting goods market for both the global sports industry and the international trade activities of MMI in front of 120 mainly Chinese journalists. Following the opening press conference, Mr. Wutzlhofer announced a new cooperation with FieraBolzano, Italy, which will include the Alpitec Tradeshow for Mountain and Winter Technologies starting in 2009. Alpitec China will be held as part of ispo china 09 in Beijing, adding a new and important segment to the show. Since most ski resort managers in China are also the owners of the local ski shop, the ski resorts are important buyers of equipment in China. The integration of Alpitec China 2009 will thus turn ispo china into the ideal 360 degree trade platform for all professionals involved in the Chinese snow sports and outdoor market.

The official ceremonial opening at the CIEC was attended by a number of highly ranked Chinese officials, representatives of exhibiting nations like Italy, Sweden, or the US, and by over 600 spectators.

Amongst the VIPs on stage were the President of the Beijing Sports Bureau, Sun Kanglin; the President of the China Outdoor Retailing Association, Yu Qin; Liu Jun from the CSGF; the Standing Vice President of the China Commerce Association For General Merchandise, Chu Xuiqi; the President of the China International Exhibition Center Group Corp., Meng Wenhui; Miao Zhongyi of BOCOG; Manfred Wutzlhofer, Chairman and CEO of Messe München GmbH; Klaus Dittrich, Managing Director of Messe München GmbH; Giancarlo Zanatta, President of Assosport; Frank Huglmeier, President and CEO of the Outdoor Industry Association; Joe Flynn, Group Vice President of Nielsen Business Media; Gernot Rössler, President of FieraBolzano; Dr. Antonio Laspina, Director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Markus Walder of the South Tyrolian Chamber of Commerce; Martin Kössler, President of the Scandinavian Outdoor Group; and Stefan Reschke, ispo Exhibition Group Director.

Amid the 329 exhibiting brands, ispo china 08 offered many leading Chinese and international brands that are already well-established in Asia as well as newcomers to this thriving, powerful market. The list of exhibitors included Asolo, Bailo, BlackYak, Brugi, Buff, Burton, Carrera, Cordura, Dolomite, Exel, Fera, Fjällräven, Gore-Tex, Halti, Hanwag, Harrows, High Rock, Invista, Kailas, Karrimor, Kolon Sports, La Sportiva, Lizard, Lowa, Lowe Alpine, Masters, Millet, Montana, Northland, Ozark, Quiksilver, Reichmann and Sons, Roces, Silva, Sympatex, Tecnica, Teva, Toray, Uvex, or Vasque. Many of the non-Asian brands were grouped in "National Villages", joint exhibition areas such as the Italian Village, the UK Village, the Southern Tyrolian Village, the Spanish Community Area or the Scandinavian Community Area. With this ispo-typical exhibition feature, individual nationalities were not only able to jointly present their products but also convey their cultural background to the Chinese visitors, achieving a quicker and deeper understanding of the distinct philosophies expressed by the brands and their products.

Stefan Reschke, ispo Group Exhibition Manager: "The concept of offering National Villages has proven to be successful over the years both in Munich and here in China. Especially when entering a new and significantly different market as for culture and business conduct, it is important to co-operate with industry contenders to open the necessary doors. This works very well and we will continue to encourage our existing exhibitors and new national industries to join these special exhibition areas. We already have inquiries from other countries like Korea, Japan and Austria."

Besides the National Villages, several other special exhibition areas offered additional retail-focused services. Above all, long-time ispo china partner CORA (Chinese Outdoor retailer Association) set up another "Retailing Demo Shop", demonstrating the best ways for retailers to demonstrate and organize a sporting goods store in order to maximize customer satisfaction and economic efficiency. Another theme area was the Kids Pavilion sponsored by 3M, co-organized by the non-profit organization Safekids China, featuring products, lectures and demonstrations on safety for kids in sports. The "Outdoor Salon" in cooperation with the Chinese Outdoor Exploration magazine offered a special visitor promotion called the "ispo china 08 Prized Tour", which was extraordinarily well-accepted by the visitors, as well as the "Golden Eyes on the Fake" area where visitors were educated in detecting fake products, still a serious issue on the Asian markets.

Tobias Gröber, Head of ispo Group: "As a truly complete platform for the retail business, ispo china can not only offer brands and products. From our experience in Munich, we know how important additional services are. Special areas like the Golden Eyes on the Fake and especially the Kids Pavilion are a unique opportunity for retailers to learn necessary skills for understanding and doing business. We are happy that we found reliable and professional partners to set up all these various special areas at the show."

Already a day prior to the show, two event highlights annunciated the final success of ispo china 08. More than 200 Chinese retailers attended the 4th China Outdoor Retailing Conference (CORC) supported by Gore-Tex on Saturday. Being an inherent part of ispo china since its beginning, CORC has gained overwhelming popularity within the Chinese outdoor retailing scene. With speeches and workshops led by experienced retail professionals, it once again proved to be one of the education and information highlights during ispo china 08.

Saturday evening, the Quiksilver Nightrail Session supported by ispo china drew a large crowd to the Nanshan ski resort and the Nokia Nanshan Mellow Park outside Beijing where local and international snowboarders battled for the king and queen of the rails title. The Nanshan Mellow Park is an institution within the Chinese snowboarding scene. Initiated, built and maintained by Mellow China, a company run by China’s snowboarding pioneer Steve Zdarsky, the park attracts the elite of Chinese and international snowboarding each year during the Nanshan Open in January and also during the Quiksilver Nightrail Session. The event on the eve of ispo china 08 was an impressive demonstration of the current state of China’s rapidly growing snowboarding scene.

Equally successful to CORC, the 3rd Asia-Pacific Snow Conference presented by Toray attracted over 120 participants to its speeches, panel discussion and workshops. The APSC is a one-of-a-kind forum with market specialists, this year on the topic of "Progression" and how to create a sustainable snow sports marketplace in China. Featured speakers of this year’s two day schedule of APSC included Zhang Yi Wan, owner and co-founder of Yoho youth magazine, Oliver Fenwick-Ross of Mahon China, David Matz, President of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, Steve Zdarsky, CEO of Mellow Parks China and Snow Program Manager of Quiksilver China, Eli Keslovitz, Brand Manager Forum/Four Square/Special Blend China, Berlin Bao, Sales Manager Tecnica, Andrea Coatti of Dolomiti Mountain Resort in Heibi, China, Wang Hong Bin, Managing Editor of Speed Ski and Snowboard Magazine, and several other specialists.

Other well-attended events during ispo china 08 included the WGSN Global Trend Seminar and the Promostyl Trend Barometer, as well as the ispo china Fashion Shows staged in the event hall with two show times a day. In the same hall, the Dutch company Art-Ice presented their Art Ice Rink Experience with great success. The company’s featured product was their floor paneling that can be used for sports disciplines like basketball as well as for ice skating or hockey. Athletic action was provided by the China Ozark Bouldering Competition supported by the CMA (China Mountaineering Association). The event was head-judged by the head coach of the CMA national team. The results of the competition will be available shortly on www.ispochina.com.

ispo china 08 received extensive positive media coverage throughout Asia immediately after its opening. The success of the trade show confirmed Messe München International in its efforts to provide perfect trade platforms for all existing sporting goods markets worldwide.

Manfred Wutzhofer, Chairman and CEO Messe München: "Our strategy is clearly geared towards meeting the interests of retailers, but we are also assisting our exhibitors in entering these rapidly growing markets and in developing their international strategies. Therefore, ispo china has developed into the only meeting point for the wintersports and outdoor business in Asia."

The latest example for a successful networking strategy serving the Asia-Pacific ventures of Messe München International is the partnership with Nielsen Business Media (USA) to support brands from the American continent to gain access to the Asian-Pacific market. The co-operation, which was signed in December 2007, declares that  Nielsen Business Media, owner and producer of the largest sports industry trade shows in the United States Outdoor Retailer (OR), Action Sports Retailer (ASR), Interbike, and Health and Fitness Business (HFB) will represent the ispo china event in North America and actively promote the event to thousands of US sporting goods brands and thousand of retailers who may be interested in exploring the Chinese and Asian markets for business. Joe Flynn, Group Vice President of Nielsen Business Media, who attended in Beijing with his Group Directors for ASR, Dan Moylan, and OR, Kenji Haroutunian: “Partnering with such professional and internationally renowned trade fair organizers as Messe München is a great opportunity. We look forward to working in close partnership with Messe München in promoting the presence of US brands and business groups to come to future editions of ispo china.“

Tobias Gröber, Head of ispo Group: "The co-operation of the three trade show organizers – Messe München, Nielsen Business Media and FireaBolzano – shows that we want to grow the Asia-Pacific market together instead of dividing it by organizing separate trade shows in the future."


For the next ispo china 09 in Beijing including the Alpitec China 2009, the organizers expect a noticeable increase in the number of North American exhibitors and visitors thanks to the partnership with Nielsen Business Media. The overall strategy also includes a general increase in Asian and international brands, products and retail services to continue to support the Asia-Pacific market and all the involved.


STATEMENTS FROM THE SHOW FLOOR:

Garmont, Gian Luca Farinazzo, Sales and Marketing Manager
"The new venue was very good and the booths were all very professionally done. The quality of the visitors was also good. Our congratulations to the organizers. We have established many business contacts and in essence, ispo china is getting better and better and the market is improving. We see a big future for China. More and more people will experience the outdoors here. We are ready to invest as much as possible in the brilliant future of the Chinese outdoor market and will return for ispo china 09!"

Tecnica Group, Apple Pang, Marketing Manager
"ispo china has improved a lot. All the services are very satisfying. In particular, we made good contacts with department store managers thanks to the ispo china Department Store Tour. The effect of the tour is very positive and meets our needs very well. We wish to expand in department stores throughout China. For us, ispo china featured some excellent highlights like the Kids Village, the Outdoor Saloon and also all the other activities. Regarding the media, we have noticed that more and more journalists are attending or even exhibiting. We are very happy to see this development."

EOS, Mr Walder, Vice President
"The organization of ispo china is very, very professional. We are very happy with it. The quality of the exhibition is really high. Brands came from all over the world and the atmosphere was very international. All the exhibiting companies of EOS are very happy with the services. It is very difficult to enter the Chinese market, but ispo china is a very good platform to help our brands to do so."

Halti, Risto Salo, CEO
"Already the first day, we had more than 200 quality visits at our stand. We are very happy with both the quantity and the quality of the buyer attendance. Halti has been exhibiting at ispo china since the beginning. We find both the move of the show to Beijing as well as the earlier show dates positive. But most impressive is how quick the market has developed and the size it already reached for premium brands."

Fenix Group, Lars-Ola Brolinsson, Brand Manager, and Martin Axelhed, CEO Fjällräven
"We are very impressed by the development of the Chinese market. We have kept and eye on the market for several years and last year understood the market is mature to make a move. We launched our joint venture operations for our brands Fjällräven and Hanwag here at ispo china and had even more pre-booked buyer visits than in ispo Munich three weeks ago. We were surprised not to find more European brands but regard it as a bonus opportunity for us."

Nordic Sport (Exel Sports joint venture in China), Sam Xiao, General Manager
"The show has grown regarding the quality of both the exhibitors and the buyers. It had a very good atmosphere. It definitely helps to grow the market and we are happy to be the first movers and market makers to build the Nordic sports community in China. We already started to deliver positive results and have a strong upward curve for the upcoming year."
 
Lowa, Holger Neu, Export Area Manager
"We are very satisfied with the show. Our distributor reported about enormous improvements compared to 2007 and very positive new contacts to Chinese department stores thanks to the official Department Store Tour. Next year, we will have to book our booth space for ispo china 09 a lot earlier!"

Outdoor Industry Association, Frank Hugelmeyer, President and CEO
"ispo china is the next frontier for the outdoor business."

Nielsen Business Media, Joe Flynn, Group Vice President, Sports Group
"ispo china 08 established itself as the leading event in Asia for winter sports and is the absolutely best opportunity for brands, who want to enter this explosive market."

Outdoor Retailer (OR) trade show, Kenji Haroutunian, Group Show Director
"My eyes are open wide to the opportunities in the largest market of the world, China. The outdoor industry here resembles the market in the 70s in the US. The brands begin now to position for the future."

Mahon China (Venture Capital Firm), Oliver Fenwick-Ross, Report Writer/Researcher
"We are overly optimistic since the market is finding some ground. Efforts over the next two to three years will be THE key to opening up the future market here in China."

China Outdoor Retailer Association, Roger Zeng, Secretary General
"ispo china takes place every year, and every year there are positive changes and pleasing developments. Generally speaking, ispo china 08 was a lot larger. If we said 2007 was just the start for ispo china with its move to Beijing, this year we say ispo china has firmly established itself and has a very bright future. ispo china 08 created a very good business atmosphere for us to communicate with brands, with our partners, and make new friends. Most outdoor brands have participated in ispo china – they felt that it was a must for them to present themselves here. Did you also feel that more and more brands start to arrange their own events during ispo china? Yes, the fame and influence of ispo china is becoming bigger and bigger."

Ozark, Betty Liu, General Manager
"We’re really happy about having participated in ispo china again. Compared with the last show in 2007, ispo china 08 was better regarding the exhibition hall, the organization, the exhibiting brands, and the visitors. We are aware of the organizers´ efforts to create a more professional platform for the outdoor industry. For the next show, we hope there will be even more brands, more retailers and distributors to visit, and more services. We are looking forward to a splendid ispo china 2009!"

Millet Beijing, Peter Yoon, General Manager
"It’s the first time for Millet to join in ispo china. We sincerely thank the organizers for their work and the great support. During ispo china 08, Millet has met more retailers, distributors and outdoor lovers. We also met many trade visitors from various sales channels, which really helped."

Gore-Tex, Samuel Chong, Marketing Director, Asia-Pacific Region
"As one of the exhibitors who have participated for four times, we witnessed the continual development of ispo china. After the venue transfer from Shanghai to Beijing, and now to the China International Exhibition Center, ispo china has proven its status as the leading trade show within the Chinese ski and outdoor industry. Based on a  win-win foundation, we are happy to continue the relationship with ispo china as a strategic partner and to service the quickly developing industry."

Arcticfox / Teva / Simple, Li Jun, General Manager
"This is the third time for Arcticfox brand to exhibit at ispo china, and the first time for two new brands, Teva and Simple. Every time, ispo china brings us many new highlights. This time, we were impressed with the visiting department store delegation organized by the organizers. The sales channel of department stores is really important to us. Thanks to ispo china for providing us such a good opportunity to present the three brands. ispo china gathers the brands, retailers, distributors, media and the customers. It’s an essential platform within the sports industry."

3M, sponsor of the Kids Village
"Thanks to ispo china for providing such a great platform for us to exhibit and co-organize the Kids Village at ispo china 08. The village not only provides a stage for us to show many good solutions, but also to educate the customers how to increase the consciousness of kids safety in co-operation with all exhibitors."

Morresi / Chaco, Eding Cao, Marketing Manager
"ispo china is the leading trade fairs in the sports industry. We visited ispo china before. This year, we attended as an exhibitor with two brands, Morresi and Chaco, and we were happy to see that ispo china 08 experienced large progress regarding exhibition space, exhibiting brands, and community allocation. We also started many new business relationships."

Sanfo, Zhang Heng, General Manager
"This year, ispo china 08 was a great success – it was the get-together for the industry. I saw many brands and a lot of visitors. ispo china 08 was bigger and better than last year. More important, ispo china is a communication platform for us. There were many seminars, and events being held during ispo china, which provided us with a lot of useful information and knowledge. We are very glad that ispo china is always progressing. I am looking forward to ispo china 09."

Nanjing Outlook Outdoor Equipment, Yu Qin, General Manager
"We were happy to be with so many big brands at ispo china. This time, the show had many halls at the CIEC, and there were surprises in each hall. Compared with the 1st  show in Beijing last year, the scale was leveled up, which is a good sign of development. As a retailer, we gained a lot from ispo china and we are looking forward to gaining even more in the future as well as growing stronger and stronger together with ispo china."

Outdoor Exploration, Gao Yong, Marketing Manager
"As a partner of ispo china, we congratulate the organizers for such a great exhibition. Besides the high quality of brands and the large quantity of visitors, I’d like to talk more about our co-op events at ispo china. The Prized Tour was beyond my expectations. The number of visitors surprised us so much during these three days. The brand seminars held at the Outdoor Salon also created a lot of attention. We are looking forward to our next co-operations with ispo china."

Xi’ an Green Ants Outdoor, Pu Wei, General Manager
"Both regarding the participating brands and the professional visitors, ispo china 08 has done a very good job. Although the date of ispo china 08 was very close to the end of the Chinese Spring festival, retailers were used to coming here since ispo china has become another festival for us. The halls were very busy, always crowded with people inside or outside the booths. It felt very good to be here, looking at the products, talking to others. The China Outdoor Retailing Conference deeply impressed me, because it really supplies valuable support to the retailers, teaching and helping them. Moreover, an event like the Golden Rhino Awards was also another kind of improvement for the industry."

Shenzhen Firefox, Hu Yanyong, General Manager
"So far, we have attended ispo china every year, but ispo china 08 was like a new show for us. A new Venue, a new event, and most importantly, new faces. Whether the brands or the retailers, we met lots of new people, which inspired us a lot. It means the industry is booming, more and more people are attending and working with you. We liked ispo china 08, and we appreciated the Outdoor Retailing Conference very much. Let’s promote the industry together! Good luck to ispo china."

8264.com, Yang Wei, Director
"Our website is always devoted to establishing a platform for brands and retailers. ispo china 08 was the perfect event for us. We interviewed many brands and retailers, took lots of pictures, felt the development of the industry. ispo china 08 gave us a good view of the industry and strengthened our confidence to keep going with the industry. And it was our pleasure to assist in outdoor market research, which we felt honored to present during ispo china 08, which was such a big event. Thank you!"


More information on ispo china and Messe München International is available at www.ispochina.com

4/MK/sf