[ISPO Beijing 2018 — The 14th Asia Outdoor & Winter Sports Trade Fair], committed to advancing China’s sports industry, will team up once more with [ALPITEC CHINA 2018 China International Mountain & Winter Sports Equipment Expo] to make a spectacular debut at the Beijing National Convention Center in the capital city from January 24–27.
On the afternoon of January 23, the ISPO Beijing 2018 press conference was held at the National Convention Center, attended by nearly 100 media outlets from both the sports industry and the general public.
The press conference was chaired by Ms. Pang Dan, Project Manager of ISPO Beijing at Messe München (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Speakers included Mr. Klaus Dittrich, President & CEO of Messe München Group; Mr. Armin Hilpold, President of P.B.S. S.p.A. (Italy); Mr. Di An, Senior Operations Expert at Alibaba Group; and Mr. Huang Geng, Chairman of Nanjing Biancheng Sporting Goods Co., Ltd., who also answered questions from journalists.
Press conference hosts and guests: Ms. Pang Dan, Mr. Di An, Mr. Klaus Dittrich, Mr. Armin Hilpold, and Mr. Huang Geng (from left to right).
At the same time, this exhibition also focuses on the booming development of the entire sports industry, especially the winter and snow sports sector. While consolidating its existing strengths in the skiing category, it incorporates snow tourism and service providers across the ice and snow industry, including event organization and training education, connecting upstream and downstream industries to serve the entire sector. Meanwhile, Alpitec China 2018 — China International Mountain & Winter Sports Equipment Expo will also be held concurrently.
Sports for All in 2018, Boosting the Vigorous Development of China’s Sports Industry
ISPO Beijing 2018, which has grown together with China’s sports industry through thick and thin, once again gathers innovative products and technologies from the global outdoor sports, winter sports, sports training, and functional textile industries. It brings together numerous professionals in the sports industry to celebrate this annual event, sharing the tremendous business opportunities and development potential in the sports industry driven by policy incentives. This year’s exhibition sees the participation of renowned domestic and international brands such as 3M, ActionFox, Aqua Marina, Arctos, Asolo, Beaume, Blackdeer, Black Diamond, Black Ice, Buff, CamelBak, Craft, Deuter, EagleCreek, Epson, Fenix, Fire-maple, Fjallraven, Garmin, Garmont, Gola, GORE-TEX, Gregory, HotChillys, Kailas, Keen, Leki, Lizard, Lorna Jane, Lowa, MBC, Micro, MobiGarden, MUNKEES, Nathan, Nextorch, Nitecore, On, Osprey, Pacsafe, Pelliot, Petzl, Point65, Primaloft, Rebornsun, Salewa, Santoni, Scaler, Scarpa, Sea to Summit, Tecnica, Thule, Tifosi, Timbuk2, Tittallon, Toray, Toread, Trespass, UTO, Vasque, Vaude, Vibram, YKK, Yvette, Zamberlan, Zealwood; as well as Alpina, AlpinePro, Bolle, Briko, Capita, ClubMed, Crabgrab, Dannies, DC, DEELUXE, Dynastar, Elan, Fischer, GNU, Halti, Head, Horsefeather, ISSnowboard, Julbo, Kessler, LIB TECH, Lidakis, NOBADAY, Nordica, Picture, Poc, RIDE, ROME, Rossignol, ROXY, Smith, SPY, Swix, Thaiwoo, Thirtytwo, Vight, Volcom, Volkl, and more. Additionally, the international sports industry holds ISPO Beijing in high regard, with seven country and regional pavilions attending this year’s exhibition: Austria, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Quebec (Canada), South Korea, and Chinese Taipei.
Enabling 300 million people to better participate in snow and ice sports
In addition to continuous technological advancements, the popularity of snow and ice sports is rapidly expanding. Skiing, once the domain of a few, has quietly become a mainstream sport. According to the recently released “China Snow & Ice Tourism Development Report (2017)” by the China Tourism Academy, the number of Chinese snow and ice tourists is expected to reach 340 million during the 2021–2022 snow season.
ISPO Beijing 2018 brings together various stakeholders in the industry to analyze China’s globally watched beginner-friendly ski market from multiple perspectives. On January 25, the Asia Pacific Snow Conference (APSC), held concurrently with the exhibition, will explore the keys to the healthy development of the ski industry from angles such as talent training and teaching in China’s ski industry, diverse operational models for ski resorts, and informatization, aiming to provide the industry with new ideas for solving problems.
Keeping up with outdoor industry trends, building five core industry forums
The vigorous development of the ski industry is just the tip of the iceberg of the rise of sports in China. Keeping pace with this trend, ISPO Beijing has introduced five core industry forums at this exhibition. With climbing set to become an Olympic sport, it is expected to shed its image as a niche activity in the near future. To this end, ISPO Beijing 2018 presents the 4th China Amateur Climbing Summit Forum, gathering well-known domestic climbing event organizers, experienced gym operators, industry opinion leaders, and numerous domestic and international climbing enthusiasts. The forum focuses on policy interpretation following climbing’s Olympic inclusion, deeply examines the opportunities and challenges in the future youth climbing market, and covers all the latest information from the global climbing industry.
This spring, sports towns are “blooming everywhere.” The ISPO Sports Industry Forum — Sports Towns at this edition specifically analyzes this concept. Over 200 senior domestic and international industry experts and practitioners break down successful cases from around the world, delving into core topics such as resource integration and operational management. In addition, there is the ISPO Running Industry Summit Forum, which focuses on the development of running in the Asia-Pacific region, and the China Sports Trend Forum, aimed at providing designers and brand managers with more innovative inspiration, sharing experiences and stories, and predicting future innovations and changes.
Providing a Stage for Made-in-China, Showcasing New Forces in the Sports Goods Industry
For a long time, the sports goods industry has been dominated by foreign brands, but in fact, [Made-in-China] is already on the rise. ISPO Beijing, deeply rooted in the Chinese market, has always strived to provide a stage for Made-in-China. This exhibition will continue to feature the highly acclaimed “Emerging Brands Zone,” where invited emerging brands represent important new forces in China’s sports goods industry.
In the 2020/21 autumn-winter “ISPO Functional Textile Trends” showcase area, all selected products from the 2018 “ISPO Functional Textile Trends Award” will be displayed, offering highly creative functional fabric and accessory products to sports product designers, product managers, and journalists.
Notably, ISPO Beijing will continue to collaborate with Alpitec China for a concurrent exhibition. This marks the tenth year of Alpitec China in the Chinese market, with the scale reaching an all-time high. So far, more than ten new companies have registered to participate, most of which are Chinese enterprises. This shows that local Chinese brands and companies are developing rapidly and are expected to occupy half of the exhibition space.
Breaking boundaries and bringing more possibilities to summer sports, ISPO Shanghai 2018 will set sail again from July 5–7, 2018, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, comprehensively showcasing innovative products and trend directions in Asia’s fitness, running, outdoor, and water sports markets, and nurturing more business opportunities for China’s sports industry.