ISPO 2019 sport industry show in Munich attracts 80,000 visitors

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Feb 12, 2019

The ISPO 2019 show in Munich, the sport industry’s marquee event, attracted as usual the best the industry has to offer. According to the organisers, about 80,000 visitors from 120 countries attended the show’s most recent edition, to view the latest equipment and apparel collections by winter sport and outdoor brands, as well as an array of new fitness products, recent developments in team-sport solutions, new services for the industry, eco-responsible innovations and the latest digital solutions. ISPO 2019 showcased 2,943 exhibitors, and the majority of visitors were buyers from Italy, Austria, France, Switzerland, the UK and Russia.

International athletes and high-calibre industry names were some of the attractions at ISPO 2019, which nevertheless recorded a downturn in visitors from the over 83,000 who travelled out to the Bavarian capital a year ago. Yet, with such a high visitor turnout, the event remains an industry landmark, as also proven by the number of tech innovations and industry news making the headlines at the show. The European Outdoor Group, the industry's European representative body, announced the promotion of Mark Held, formerly the group’s general secretary, to the post of president. ISPO also put e-sports centre stage in its ‘Digitize’ section, underlining how e-sport development could become a significant growth factor for the industry.

The show was also the occasion to discover the winning products in the annual ISPO Awards. The shortlist was extensive, but the ‘product of the year’ winners in each category are always worth noting. This year’s winter sports award went to Mammut for the Sota HS jackets; in the Outdoor category, the winner was the Biopod DownWool Nature sleeping bag by Grüezi; for urban wear, the award went to the Sordo shoe by Berg Outdoor; for team sports, to Ultimate iBall, a handball ball by Select; and for Fitness, to the Platinum Club Series Treadmill model by Life Fitness.

From June 30 to July 3, ISPO will organise the maiden edition of the Outdoor by ISPO show, again in Munich. ISPO Digitize, the event dedicated to digital solutions, will be held on July 3-4.