Frankfurt debut for Eurobike show pulls 33,780 trade visits

The debut of the Eurobike show in financial hub Frankfurt drew 33,780 trade visitors from 105 countries, according to official figures from the organisers.

Departing its long-term home of Friedrichshafen for a more central and easily accessible location with a greater population density, the event reshaped its content around trending mobility forms, having a noticeable tilt toward the cargo bike and utility cycling space, rather than sports cycling. Being in Frankfurt was further tactical in that key seminars and events were packed out with visitors looking inward on the industry; notably the Investors’ Lounge pulled in institutional fund managers representing €10 Billion in capital.

The event was also important politically, with prominent policy maker visits coming from Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport Dr Volker Wissing as well as Hesse’s Minister of Economics Tarek Al-Wazir and State Secretary for Transport Jens Deutschendorf.

Drawing the crowds to Messe Frankfurt’s 140,000 square metres of halls were 1,500 exhibitors, markedly ahead of the Covid stunted 2021 event which had 630 and 18,770 trade visitors. Pre pandemic, nearly 40,000 visitors attended in 2019 and 1,400 exhibitors.

Fairnamic Managing Director Stefan Reisinger said of the Frankfurt debut: “A top-notch and very international audience attended the 30th Eurobike. Despite travel restrictions, flight cancellations and coronavirus-related difficulties, the event reached a level that we last saw before the pandemic. Industry, trade, policymakers and all fans of the bicycle are sending out a clear signal from Frankfurt: cycling must be further bolstered and encouraged. For the industry, the Eurobike is the world’s most important platform and a sustainable engine for accelerating this transformation”.

Added to the trade element, the positioning enable 27,370 consumer bicycle enthusiasts to visit the fair at the weekend, many taking to the test track that remained busy throughout.

Furthermore, a total of 1,177 media representatives from 34 countries came to Eurobike in Frankfurt.

Burkhard Stork, Managing Director of bicycle industry association Zweirad Industrie Verband (ZIV), added his take on the event, stating: “What an incredible start! The halls were full, and the exhibiting companies were quite satisfied with the contacts that were established and cultivated. We got used to the new exhibition centre within just a few hours. The bicycle industry’s prominence in the policy sphere and its coverage in the popular media have greatly increased. This is an outstanding basis for the continuation of the world’s leading trade fair for bicycles in the years to come.”

Next year, the 31st edition of the Eurobike will take place from Wednesday, 21 June to Sunday, 25 June 2023, with the event dovetailed with the National Cycling Congress in terms of both location and date (20 and 21 June).

CyclingIndustry.News will recap the key talking points from the event in our next print edition, to which members of the trade can subscribe here.