Wissmann

IAA Has Exceeded Our Expectations - Seite 3

The IAA has become even more international. The proportion of foreign exhibitors comes to 61 percent (59 percent in 2014). The number of exhibiting countries has risen to 52 (45 in 2014). The five best represented countries are China (with 229 exhibitors), Italy (145), the Netherlands (121), Turkey (92) and France (85). Over a third of all exhibitors come from Europe (not including Germany), and one fifth come from Asia.

We are delighted by the huge visitor interest, in terms both of quality and quantity. The visitor numbers are not directly comparable, because this year the IAA 2016 runs for nine days, whereas in 2014 it was ten days. This time we kicked off with a far higher number of press conferences, but one day later. But still the average number of people coming to the IAA per day is higher than it was two years ago. We are very pleased to record 245,000 visitors, which is a very, very good result. And this means that - despite the shorter show - we have exceeded the number in 2014.

Our exhibitors have expressed their particular satisfaction with the high quality of the visitors and the very intensive discussions with customers. The IAA Commercial Vehicles has developed even more strongly into a professional decision-makers' trade fair. The proportion of trade visitors has risen to 86 percent (84 percent in 2014). Eight out of ten trade visitors are decision-makers, and among foreign trade visitors the share is nine out of ten. The national and international managers in this industry all know that the IAA Commercial Vehicles is a must for their business, as revealed by our representative visitor surveys.

What is true of the exhibitors also holds true for the trade visitors. They are becoming ever more international. One trade visitor in three comes from abroad (29 percent in 2014), and on the best days the figure reaches a high of 43 percent. Most of the foreign trade visitors come from China, followed by the Netherlands and Poland.

There is more good news: the IAA visitors are more willing to make investments after going round the exhibition - and the proportion is higher than it was two years ago: 60 percent of trade visitors with an influence on purchasing decisions plan to make investments in the field of commercial vehicles within the next six to twelve months (56 percent in 2014). More than half of the trade visitors use their visit to the show to plan their investments, and among foreign guests the figure is even higher (68 percent). Some IAA visitors are very keen to take decisions during the show. Some exhibitors rang a bell at their stand every time a purchasing agreement was concluded, often chiming several times in an hour.