When people ask me what IWA OutdoorClassics actually is, the answer depends on the time of day. In the morning, I give the straightforward response: the world's leading trade fair for the hunting, shooting sports and outdoor industries. In the evening, after a long day at the show, it sounds more like this: an annual gathering of people who speak a common language and have four days to make the most of it.
Both answers are correct. Trade fairs have long been about far more than showcasing products and taking orders. Nor have they become obsolete simply because new products can now be seen on Instagram, YouTube or specialist websites weeks before the doors open.
What the Trade Fair Is No Longer
For many years, the traditional trade fair's main value lay in providing an information advantage. Retailers travelled to the event, discovered new products, placed orders and returned home with a stack of catalogues. Today, much of that information is already available before the exhibition halls even open. More often than not, the first sense of excitement happens from the comfort of the sofa.
There is also a valid criticism. Products unveiled at a trade fair are not always available for delivery in the near term. Production lead times, approvals, import logistics, raw material supply, tariffs and uncertain transport routes can create a gap of several months between presentation and market availability. Anyone attending with specific purchasing plans therefore needs more than attractive new products. They need reliable, actionable information.
These frustrations are real. But they do not mean that the trade fair has lost its purpose. It simply means that its role has evolved.
The Numbers Do Not Point to a Farewell
Despite challenging market conditions, the German trade fair industry remained on a growth trajectory in 2025. A total of 304 trade fairs attracted around 190,500 exhibiting companies and more than 12.8 million visitors. The total exhibition space occupied exceeded 6.9 million square metres. German exhibition organisers had already achieved a record turnover of €4.4 billion in 2024.
Globally, the exhibition industry also continues to be a significant economic force. In 2024, around 4.7 million exhibiting companies and 318 million visitors were recorded worldwide. The overall economic impact was estimated at €368 billion.
IWA OutdoorClassics itself brought together around 1,050 manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors with more than 25,000 trade visitors and media representatives from 121 countries in 2026. More than 70 per cent of the exhibition space for 2027 had already been booked immediately after the show closed. Those who leave and reserve their space again do not do so out of nostalgia.
Quality Over Quantity
Over recent years, IWA OutdoorClassics has consistently refined its profile. Admission criteria have been tightened and the definition of professional visitors has become more clearly focused. This has, at times, resulted in lower visitor numbers and sparked debate. At the same time, exhibitors report meeting better-prepared contacts, receiving more specific enquiries and engaging with visitors who have genuine decision-making authority.
The return of several leading manufacturers reinforces this direction. IWA OutdoorClassics is not intended to be a public spectacle, but a dedicated B2B environment for manufacturers, retailers, distributors, importers, media representatives and industry associations.
That is precisely where its strength lies: bringing together, in one place, people who would otherwise be working across different countries, time zones and supply chains. For many smaller businesses and specialist retailers, achieving this level of direct access through individual meetings alone would be difficult to organise in a commercially viable way.
The Conversation No Video Call Can Replace
The true value of a trade fair can only be measured in orders to a certain extent. Trade fairs generate social capital: trust, personal relationships and an instinctive sense of who you want to do business with.
It is the unplanned conversation at a neighbouring stand that ends with a new idea. The shared lunch during which you discover what is really on someone’s mind. The expression on a person’s face that reveals more than three rounds of emails ever could. Likeability is not a business metric. Yet it influences decisions all the same.
A trade fair also reveals the reality behind a brand. It is not just the product that matters, but the way the company presents itself. How is the stand designed? How do employees interact with visitors? Is the managing director approachable? Do presentation and substance genuinely match? No website can convey this as directly.
For Retailers: Four Days of Market Intelligence
For specialist retailers, IWA OutdoorClassics serves a highly practical purpose. Products can be handled, compared and discussed directly with the people responsible for them. Which brands are the right fit for the range in future? Which new products genuinely matter? Which delivery schedules are realistic? Just three halls away, there is already an opportunity to compare them with competing offerings.
Commercial terms, minimum order quantities, exclusive territories and partnership opportunities can also often be resolved far more quickly in person than through lengthy email exchanges. Then there is market intelligence: Which trends are beginning to emerge? Which suppliers are gaining influence? What is the mood across the industry?
A well-prepared day at the exhibition can condense the insights of many weeks of research into a matter of hours. The prerequisite, however, is that retailers are offered not only products to look at, but clear and concrete answers.
Digitalisation and Trade Fairs Are Not Opposites
The question of whether trade fairs are still necessary in the age of Instagram, webinars and product videos misses the point. Digital communication and face-to-face interaction serve different purposes.
Today’s trade visitor arrives well prepared. They are already familiar with product announcements, technical specifications and initial reviews. They do not travel simply to discover a product, but to experience it. Weight, workmanship, ergonomics, appearance and functionality cannot be conveyed fully through digital channels alone.
At the same time, a successful trade fair presence extends far beyond the event itself. Photographs, videos, interviews and conversations generate content that remains relevant for weeks and months afterwards. The trade fair is therefore not the counterpart to digital communication, but its culmination. Announcement, preparation, personal interaction and follow-up coverage all work together.
What a Trade Fair Must Deliver
Of course, the question of cost remains. Stand rental, construction, logistics, staffing, travel and accommodation represent a substantial investment for manufacturers and retailers alike. For specialist retailers, attending the exhibition also means time away from the shop floor.
For that reason, it is no longer enough to rely on tradition. A trade fair must demonstrate its value through qualified visitors, clear structures, reliable business contacts, relevant content and an organisation that respects participants’ time. Exhibitors do not book space because it is inexpensive. They book because it delivers a return.
The trade fair of the future will most likely be more focused, more carefully curated and better supported by digital tools. It will be less of a pure product showcase and more of a working environment, knowledge platform and networking hub.
IWA OutdoorClassics is already moving in that direction. Its professional visitor concept, international outlook and programmes for young professionals and emerging businesses continue to sharpen its profile. Ultimately, however, success depends on manufacturers and retailers supporting this path and speaking openly about what they need from it.
Why We Keep Coming Back
The hunting, shooting sports and outdoor industry is not an anonymous sector. It is built on shared interests, craftsmanship, responsibility and personal relationships. Particularly at a time of social, political and economic headwinds, the industry needs places where it can experience itself as a professional and internationally connected community.
IWA OutdoorClassics is one of those places. It is where familiar faces are reunited, new connections are made, emerging developments are sensed long before they appear in a press release, and where visitors take home an impression of the market that no industry report can fully capture.
In the end, the answer is remarkably simple: people need other people. They need spaces where they can pick something up, look someone in the eye and make a decision.
For more than 50 years, IWA OutdoorClassics has provided exactly that space. The fact that we return year after year is therefore not a matter of habit. It is a matter of sound judgement.
