From June 30 to July 2, 2023, ISPO Shanghai 2023 made a victorious return to Shanghai New International Expo Center with 511 Chinese and international brands (50% over the previous years), represented by 395 exhibitors and 40,174 industry visitors and sports fans, reach an increase of 100% over the previous year.
The trade show, covering outdoor sports, camping lifestyle, water sports, urban sports, cycling, rock climbing, RV touring and other sports lifestyles, exhibited cutting-edge trends, new brands, new products and new technologies. It also held forums and lectures on hot topics such as sports & tourism, sports fashion trends, international exchanges between industries, and international marketing. The newly-open "ISPO Sports Park" ignited the sports enthusiasm of the participants through its festival concept, and injected vitality into the industry.
Looking back, Ms. Xu Jia, General Manager of Messe Muenchen Shanghai Co., Ltd. and CEO of Messe Muenchen (Greater China), was very emotional: "The sports lifestyle industry is now riding on the fast lane. As an important business platform, ISPO will take on a more difficult mission than ever. Through the exhibition and interaction in the past three days, we are so happy and proud to see that everyone have gained something in ISPO Shanghai. We are also aware of the increased pressure and responsibility we are going to shoulder. ISPO has always tried to provide accurate market information to the industry communities and sports brands, and to exhibit new sports lifestyle to the industry practitioners, sports enthusiasts and the public, in the hope that ISPO can always be part of the healthy development of the industry.”
International brands are back, and the industry has found a new path
As an international exhibition, ISPO is again connecting the Chinese and international sporting goods market after international traveling recovered. This year, ISPO Shanghai welcomed 140 international brands, which accounted for 27.4% of the exhibiting brands and marked an increase of 1.7 times over the same period last year.
LOWA Asia-Pacific & South East Europe Sales Director Mr. Matthias Preussel said: “I see a lot of new brands here, which I have not seen before, have never heard the name even before. So I think the development of the outdoor market in China is much faster and much more vibrant than in Europe. It's good to see that more and more people come, people are happy to go out and talk to the consumers again, talk to the industry leaders. It's very good to have such a strong traffic here. “
The return of international brands clearly reflects the stable development of China's sports consumer market. Water sports consumer market has made a giant leap this year as many tourist destinations are building water sports facilities. As a result, the Water Sports exhibition area doubled this year. At the large pool and the surfing simulation machine staged for the first time at ISPO Shanghai, continuous product tests, competitions and other activities were held. The area was always crowded with sports enthusiasts ready to have some novel experience.
Sports lifestyle has become popular among the Chinese people, and such changes have stimulated the industry to keep up. At ISPO Shanghai 2023, outdoor clothing brands have come up with more trendy, younger-looking designs, so that wearers can switch between urban and outdoor identities anytime, anywhere.
New development and new ideas in the new market architecture and stage
Industrial development has its cycles and stages, and it requires strong new stimulus, apart from the reform and upgrading of the industrial structure. To this end, ISPO Shanghai 2023 has developed new concepts and perspective that are implemented from strategic layout to event design.
Messe München Consumer Goods Project Director and global head of ISPO group Tobias Gröber said ：“Outdoor and Sports are not only defined by innovative products, but on top they are extremely positive on people's physical and mental health, the society and the environment. These positive aspects have been promoted heavily through ISPO Shanghai. The industry is changing, new brands, younger people have entered the game, and the influence of sports lifestyle has been amplified like ever before. I believe we will have closer and stronger global connections in the future.”
In addition to the expansion of core exhibition categories that reflect mass sports lifestyle, ISPO has created "fields" that undertakes such concept and spirit. From the outdoor camping between the mountains and the sea, to the sports venue in cities, it connected all these places through "sports tourism", and balanced between people, styles and contexts.
The trade show was also at the forefront of sports lifestyle. To support "mass sports", the "ISPO Sports Park" presented not only sports elements such as cycling, frisbee, and equestrian, but also trendy lifestyle such as coffee, wine, and RV travel. A Mass Fitness Dance Competition was organized to expand its visitor base. Moreover, ISPO Shanghai worked together with the local communities, organizations and businesses, and held sports meetings and carnivals that formed regional "night economy" and created new interactive experience for participants.
Professional platform of important industry information exchange and release
Any industry would have its own development cycles and phases, in which different problems arise. For a very long time, ISPO has provided professional perspectives by creating tailor-made forums for information exchange and release, important policy interpretation, trend forecast, experience sharing and case analysis.
This year, ISPO Shanghai organized conferences and forums on three themes: sports tourism, sports fashion trends, and the international market expansion of Chinese sporting goods brands. They clarified the pain points and solutions concerning the integrated development of sports + tourism, market channel extension, sports fashion trend, consumer profiling, and interpretation of cross-border e-commerce platforms, which helped industry practitioners in the face of problems and challenges.
Gratitude to all exhibitors, partners and visitors
Today, ISPO is growing into a more comprehensive and diversified platform. Such progress is impossible without the support and trust of exhibitors, partners and visitors. The ISPO team wants to expresses its heartfelt respect to all the friends worked hand in hand with us during the exhibition, and our thanks to the colleagues for their company, encouragement and advice to ISPO. In the future, ISPO will continue to uphold its original mission and provide better, guaranteed services for the industry.
The next ISPO Shanghai will open at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the summer of 2024. ISPO Nanjing 2023 will be held at the Nanjing International Exhibition Center on August 4-6, once again refreshing the hot summer of Nanjing.
