The Ispo Munich fair welcomed more visitors than ever before. One of the reasons was probably the need for overcautious European retailers to replenish their inventories in the midst of a better-than-expected winter selling season. As reported in SGI Europe, a survey ahead of the show indicated generally higher expectations for new orders of autumn/winter merchandise than one year ago. Interviews with various exhibitors confirmed the general positive trend, especially in the broad ski sector, which is covered by SGI Europe. Messe München counted a total of 81,000 daily visits at Ispo Munich, an increase of 4 percent as compared to last year, and 66 percent of the visitors came from outside Germany. The highest increases came from Europe and Asia. Spain, one of the crisis-shaken European countries, made it back into the top ten foreign delegations. There was also a significant 5.8 percent increase in the number of exhibitors to a total of 2,481. The number of countries that they represented at the show improved by one to 52. They occupied 430 more square meters than one year ago, for a total net exhibition space of 103,220 m². Ispo Munich featured a strong program of conferences and other side events, starting with the World Sports Forum organized by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) on the eve of the fair (more in SGI Europe).

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