New name announced at Stuttgart show
The organisers of Interschau-Technofolies have announced a new name for the exhibition following the latest event in Stuttgart, which attracted around 3,500 visitors. As from next year, when the show takes place in Genoa, Italy, the exhibition will be known as Amusement Expo Europe.
The latest event took place at the new Messe Stuttgart exhibition centre, right next to the city’s airport, from October 29 to 31, and around 80% of this year’s visitors were from Germany. This suggests that Interschau – one of the original European trade shows – has held on to local support in spite of Euro Attractions Show (EAS) taking place this year in Munich.
Organisers Messe Stuttgart and Fiera di Genova were offered support during the show from the German, Italian and European showmen’s unions, as well as the Italian manufacturer’s association ANCASVI and the European suppliers’ collective AiCE. A meeting was also held during the show about a number issues affecting the business in Europe, involving representatives of IAAPA, EAASI and AiCE.
According to surveys carried out by the organisers, 87% of lnterschau-Technofolies guests said they had come to spend money – good news for the 100 or so exhibitors. Kept busy were several suppliers of caravans, underlining the event’s roots as a showmen’s show.
“Many exhibitors reported good business contacts and transactions, as well as a surprisingly strong level of visitor participation from outside of Germany,” remarked Roland Bleinroth, managing director of Messe Stuttgart.
“We were delighted with the level of international participation,” added Albert Ritter, president of the European Showmen’s Union and the German Showmen’s Union (DSB). “I personally greeted visitors from Spain, Poland, France, Belgium, Austria and Italy and I know of colleagues who came from India and Russia.”
Andrea Munari of IE Park, the president of the Italian suppliers’ association ANCASVI, reckoned the show’s location made it easy for foreign visitors: “It is an excellent environment and the direct connection to the airport is simply ideal for the international public. Among others, we engaged in discussions with visitors from France, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Iran and Iraq.”
German exhibitor Andreas Dietz of Dietz Fahrzeugbau, which build’s fairground kiosks and constructions, had this to say: “We have been exhibitors at Interschau for the last 22 years and for us one thing remains certain, the quality of the customers is outstanding.”
“For us, the trade fair was a complete success, we will definitely be returning to Stuttgart again in 2010,” concluded Anika Kindler of the Ondra Engineering Company.
The first Amusement Expo Europe takes place at Fiera di Genova, Genoa, from October 28 to 30, 2009, before a return to Stuttgart in 2009. Just how it will fare in Genoa, where transport links are much less convenient than either Stuttgart or Amsterdam (home to EAS 2009), remains to be seen.
In the meantime updates about the show can be found at www.interschau-technofolies.de
The exhibitors quoted in this article were interviewed by the organisers.
