On the closing day of the first Eurobike in Frankfurt: Bottom line consistently positive for both exhibitors and organisers – Bicycle industry has answers to the global challenge posed by the mobility transition.
The first edition of the EUROBIKE at the new Frankfurt location exceeded expectations that were already high. Over the five days of the trade fair, 33,780 trade visitors made their way to the new Eurobike City of Frankfurt, with 27,370 bicycle enthusiasts visiting the fair at the weekend (2021 in Friedrichshafen: 18,770 trade visitors and 13,424 bicycle enthusiasts). Coming from 105 different countries, the audience in Frankfurt demonstrated the industry’s pent-up demand for meeting in person to experience global cycling trends and look to the future together.
Fairnamic Managing Director Stefan Reisinger is delighted with the success of the Frankfurt début, where more than 1,500 exhibiting companies took part. He sums up the event as follows: “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”. On the Festival Days, thousands of bicycle enthusiasts also experienced the fascination of bicycles and bike culture in beautiful weather, with thrilling test rides in the Demo Area, bicycle races and action-packed shows featuring international stars of the cycling scene.
Eurobike 2022 was an innovation-filled venue where manufacturers from all over the world illuminated the future of the bicycle and its many components, both as items of sports equipment and as sought-after facilitators of mobility. With their diverse product ranges, many established and new exhibitors reflected the current spirit of optimism in the market and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to engage in face-to-face exchange on challenging topics such as international trade flows, supply chains, sustainability and meeting consumer demand. Burkhard Stork, Managing Director of bicycle industry association Zweirad Industrie Verband (ZIV), provides the following summary: “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.”
Messe Frankfurt’s 140,000 square metres of halls and outdoor exhibition areas were bustling with visitors right up to the end of the fair. Susanne Puello, Managing Director of Pierer E-Bikes, describes excellent results: “Eurobike 2022 met our expectations in every regard: The event organisation at the new location went off without a hitch, we had many good quality meetings, and the atmosphere was exciting on every day of the fair. Moving to Frankfurt was a great decision for the entire industry, and the topic of bicycle mobility has truly arrived in the heart of a booming metropolis.”
The fundamental change in urban mobility was particularly evident in exhibition hall 8, which was designed entirely around the theme of “Future Mobility”. From new infrastructure and logistics solutions to battery technologies and the trending topics of cargo bikes and start-ups, the wide spectrum of modern mobility forms was presented and discussed in a variety of conference formats. The Eurobike is the platform where the vision of the industry is clearly demonstrated and advanced in an overarching manner with other agents and key players. Reconstruction of the built world of infrastructure and achieving social acceptance of the bicycle are goals that can only be achieved in tandem.
All participants gave outstanding marks for the quality of the Eurobike. International trade flows and meeting the demand of the end customers are also challenges for the bicycle industry and the subject of discussion at the Eurobike. The satisfaction of all visitors was confirmed until the last day of the fair and was rated 93 per cent.
Eurobike enters the policy sphere
From the very beginning of the fair, the Eurobike also underscored its key importance for policymakers. Prominent visitors to the fair included 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. These key decision-makers all expressed a common credo: Uses for the bicycle are growing by leaps and bounds, and more and more people are making use of this practical form of transportation. It is now imperative to close gaps in cycling routes and create safety through infrastructure, with the goal of ensuring that cyclists do not have to be brave and that they will instead be able to pedal to their destinations without stress or worry.
High visibility of the joy of cycling in Eurobike City
Cycling is booming. In Frankfurt, the Eurobike has unique opportunities and space for further development in order to increase internationality through accessibility. To make a visit to the fair an all-encompassing experience, the entirety of the visiting public was invited to use specially added bike lanes to arrive at the fair by bicycle. Whether bikes that are speedy and electric or ones that are simply practical, visitors were able to not only marvel at the new bicycle models in the exhibition halls but also enjoy taking them for a spin under real riding conditions in the Demo Area around the exhibition halls. The joy of cycling found expression in Eurobike City at Frankfurt’s Mainkai and Osthafen. Information, hands-on activities and a wide-ranging cycling culture programme were on offer there. The Eurobike had never before experienced such a high level of visibility, with all the various forms of bicycle use represented at the venue. A total of 1,177 media representatives from 34 countries came to Eurobike in Frankfurt.
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).
For more information, visit: www.eurobike.com.
