3/3/2023
Turnaround achieved: IWA OutdoorClassics 2023 starts with about 1,100 exhibitors and new highlights.
Eyes on Target! From 2-5 March, 1,071 exhibitors will meet manufacturers, retailers and opinion leaders from all over the world for their industry get-together.
Eyes on Target! Between 2 and 5 March, manufacturers, dealers and opinion leaders from all over the world will gather once again at IWA OutdoorClassics, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Hunting, Shooting Sports, Outdoor Activities and Security. The conditions for the most important international sector gathering could hardly be better: With 1,071 registered exhibitors from a total of 53 countries, three new special exhibition formats, many fascinating lectures on subjects of strong current relevance and a new community event, this trade fair is ushering in a positive turnaround.
Thomas Preutenborbeck, Member of the Executive Board, NürnbergMesse, is pleased with the growth in exhibitor numbers by about 20 percent compared to the previous year, and sets the tone for the start of the fair: “We are coming out of the crisis with our heads held high. Many exhibitors have kept their promise to exhibit at our trade fair again after the pandemic, and we are looking forward all the more enthusiastically to the professional interaction the next four days will offer. We are grateful for the trust and encouragement we have received from the industry and our honorary sponsors, the German Gunsmiths and Guntrade Association (Verband Deutscher Büchsenmacher und Waffenfachhändler, VDB) and the German Association of manufacturers of hunting and sport weapons and ammunition (Verband der Hersteller von Jagd-, Sportwaffen und Munition, JSM). From our perspective, the positive turnaround for IWA OutdoorClassics this year is palpable.”
Focus on the trade fair experience
Product testing and interaction between experts can be seen in a new light at IWA OutdoorClassics 2023. All participants can look forward to the new highlight areas in the fields of optics, airsoft and knifeware. Although the “OPTICS Testing Area”, the “AIRSOFT Shooting Range” and the “BLADE Demo Area” all have their own focus, they have one factor in common: All three will raise the value of the trade fair experience for visitors in the future and will expand the traditional trade fair attendance with attractive services for the exhibitors. “The important thing for us,” says Preutenborbeck, “is to optimize the trade fair experience with meaningful add-ons for everyone involved and create new highlight moments. We also want to make use of the exhibition areas specifically to bolster the individual segments or work toward expanding them.” The “IWA Happy Hour” at the end of the first day of the trade fair rounds out the newly designed supporting programme of IWA OutdoorClassics. Exhibitors, visitors and media contacts are all invited to the IWA Happy Hour. Between 17:00 and 20:00 guests can look forward to a free beer and interacting in a relaxed environment to celebrate the opportunity to gather together once more.
“Work together”
Many debates at both a national and an international level are keeping market players in suspense right now. Current political challenges will give IWA OutdoorClassics, as a protected “workroom”, a special role as a guide to the mood in the sector once again this year. As part of IWA OutdoorClassics 2023, both JSM and VDB are once again inviting open dialogue regarding ways to overcome the current challenges. Graham Downing, President of the World Forum on Shooting Activities (WFSA), points out that “lobbying work, whether at a national or an international level, is always best when done together”. He also warns that “sport and tradition can only be protected if we act in our common interests”. By working together, the honorary sponsors and partners are making these highly topical themes the focus of the IWA Stage, ensuring they will be the high point of a highly sophisticated supporting programme at IWA OutdoorClassics 2023.