Bike Brno
4.-7.10. 2012

Four-day-long shows focusing on sports, dancing and other activities filled nine exhibiting halls and nearly the whole area of the Brno Exhibition Centre. The offer of gear and equipment for sports and active spending of leisure time, as well as tens of attractive accompanying events, has attracted more than 40 thousand visitors from 21 countries, which bears comparison to the previous year.

The sports, cycling and caravanning shows were newly and for the first time accompanied by Dance Life Expo trade show and dance event. The four shows hosted 336 exhibitors from 16 countries, who brought many innovations and newcomers – bicycles, components, models of campers and caravans, all fresh for the new season.

The largest exhibiting space was again occupied by the Bike Brno cycling show which has taken place for fifteenth time already; its best exhibits competed in the fourth year of Bike Brno Prestige Award. The jury comprising of international experts praised products by PELL´S (R7 AERO Sram Red road bike), 4EVER (Virus SCANNER XX ultra light carbon bicycle), ATEX (ATEX Neon set of cycling clothing), Specialized (S-WORKS ROUBAIX SL4 mountain bike), Schindler (GHOST CAGUA 6591 E:I mountain bike), SHOCart (PHONEMAPS mobile phone application) and Accell Germany (a new system of intelligent electronic suspension on Haibike Sleek Team 29˝). Many people were interested in testing of new models of bicycles, both in “Outdoor Test” taking place in the countryside, and on the test track for e-bikes.

SPORT Life was a feast of sports in all forms indeed – from indoor sports and fitness to winter sports and outdoor activities. Film Festival of Winter Sports or scuba diving show were examples of newcomers in the trade show offer. The B exhibiting hall was turned into an interactive sports park, where visitors could meet Olympic athletes and other successful sportsmen and sportswomen, and themselves try various sports activities.

The largest of the exhibiting halls, the one marked with “P”, was dedicated to the anniversary tenth Caravaning Brno show, which presented the latest models of campers and caravans, equipment for camping and accompanying programme focusing on consulting services. Many exhibits changed owners directly on the spot.

The premiere of Dance Life Expo, a trade show and dance event, was very successful. From Friday afternoon, the E exhibiting hall roared with music and spectators watching dancers dancing in 35 various styles. In case of Dance Life Expo, eight halls and three floors equated 150 workshops and dance lessons. In addition to that, visitors had the chance to witness on five stages the best that can be seen in the current dance scene. On Saturday, everybody cheered, as the new Czech record in number of people dancing in the same choreography under one roof was set – it is hard to believe, but there were 614 dancers.

The sports fair presented many famous people, too. Jaroslav Kulhavý, the winner of gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics and Ondřej Cink, the current world champion in the category “under 23” could be seen live and “in action” and for though being bikers, they challenged road racers in the one-hour-long Cofidis Road Criterium. They were not the only famous cyclists, though: Brno welcomed Óscar Pereiro, the Spanish winner of Tour de France, too, and Jiří Ježek, winner of multiple Paralympic games. Besides these, visitors had the opportunity to see Vladimir Malakhov who was named “The Best Dancer in the World” and many others.

When it comes to the expert accompanying programme, the most important event was the international Bike Conference focusing on support of cycling traffic and transport, bike travelling and healthy lifestyle.

Many races and other events were held at the Brno Exhibition Centre during the trade shows, i.e. Czech Championship in biketrial, MEATFLY BIGSHOCK! Freestyle Meeting, MIZUNO Autumn Seven running race and the finals of Český pohár 2012 in inline skating. It has become a tradition that many people were attracted by accompanying festivals, such as KOLEM SVĚTA, BIKE TRAVEL, International Festival of Outdoor Films, or a four-day-long programme packed with projections, discussions, forums and lectures which were being held on stages of the A1 and F exhibiting halls.

A few words about the trade shows

Leoš Heger, the Czech Minister of Health:
I am glad that by being here, I could emphasize the efforts concerning development of cycling in the Czech Republic, though symbolically only. I have been to the exhibiting hall with campers and I was surprised to see plenty of things, both mini and maxi, that I found interesting from the technical point of view. At the cycling show, I saw an amazing variety of designs and ideas, much greater than in an ordinary shop with cycling equipment. In addition to that, there is a great offer of activities here, and the greater number of them is here, the more people they can impact. This is why I believe that such events, such sports trade shows, are necessary. They inspire people by presenting all those technical innovations and trends which may move people to the actual activity.

Libor Petřvalský, Managing Director of PELL´S:
We are pleased that our model of aerodynamic road bicycle we have been developing for ten years was awarded the Bike Brno Prestige Award. However, we are less pleased with the number of visitors present this year, as it is obvious that the trade show has decreased in size. This is not a good news for us; we wish for the customer to be able to compare our offer with our competition in full strength. We are not afraid of such comparing and wish to be a part of a trade show that is complex in providing a full scope of what is happening in our industry, and by its own means prestigious, too. In the future, I would like to see Bike Brno as an important trade show extending way beyond the Czech Republic.

Jan Schindler, Executive Director of Schindler:
At our stand, visitors were thrilled by bikes with e:i shock electronic suspension system. This is our greatest technological innovation. We consider the Brno trade show a sales support, we are glad that people like our bicycles, that our customers are satisfied and that we can grow further.

Pavel Štědrý, SBCU-BG FIT Professor, Specialized Eastern Europe:
We tried to bring a large assortment of bicycles to our exhibition space. By appealing to a large mass of cyclists, hobby cyclists and pure professionals alike, I hope that each visitor has found what he or she came for. I would say that the interest of public in our offer was the same like last year, nonetheless, it is quite a pity that many of our competitors, both domestic and foreign, did not arrive. Signing session of stars like Jaroslav Kulhavý or Michal Prokop was the highlight at our stand, no wonder why. Everybody wants to see the Olympic winner, right? We have got here his bike in gold colour, which is a reaction to his gold medal. It is also the attraction number one, here.

Michal Stupka, webmaster, SHOCART:
We have presented a new mobile phone application enabling people to buy cycling and hiking maps and guides. Numbers of visitors were excellent, unfortunately, in comparison to the previous years, the decrease of interest among visitors is blatant. We as a publishing house we are satisfied. We always find our customer base here, there were visitors at our stand all the time.

Alena Fridrichová, executive of ATEX Sportswear:
Neon colours of cycling jerseys are the most important newcomer we have come here to Brno with. Our stand has been visited mainly by people who were interested in smaller pieces such as bandannas, sweatbands, arm and leg warmers, and other accessories; a certain type of customers have come here specifically to choose and try more expensive clothes for cycling or winter clothing – we deal with garments for skiers, runners and biathletes, and have been making clothing for Czech national team for ten years, too. It is yet too soon to evaluate the trade show, however, it can be said that on-line sale and distribution through chains is increasingly important in our branch. We do not make that many contacts as we used to do here at the trade show, it is more about direct selling and presentation of clothes which we are able to tailor exactly to one’s needs.

Jan Fischer, the former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and a presidential candidate:
I have come to Brno to see if this segment in the Czech market and exhibitors fare well. I am personally interested in the trend of e-bikes. I would say that e-bikes have great future and that we shall see more of these in the Czech Republic. Czechs are keen cyclists, though perhaps not such enthusiasts as in the Netherlands, Denmark and other rather flat countries. It is great that cycling tourism has become an inseparable part of tourism, for thanks to this, people spend more time outdoors. Here in the exhibiting halls, every lover of bicycles can find what he or she likes and needs. And as for me, there are some great pieces to be seen here, too.

Kateřina Fantová, organizer of the exposition of South Moravian Region:
Thursday and Friday was fairly weak as regards visitors, yet the B exhibiting hall is not a commercial one and we had schools here, for which we prepared various competitions. The weekend was much better, many visitors were interested mainly in meeting the Olympians and signing sessions, such as the one of ice-hockey players of Kometa Brno. Besides that, people had the chance to play basketball with Iva Večeřová, badminton with Petr Koukal, try triple jump with Šárka Kašpárková, there were people interested in judo, gymnastics and other sports, too. We have received positive feedback only, in general, we can say we are satisfied with being here.

Jan Kodeš, marketing manager of Snowboard Zezula:
Our presentation at the SPORT Life trade show has been a successful this year. When it comes to visitors, we have to thank Dance Life Expo in particular for bringing us many potential new customers, so this is why we are very positive about this trade show innovation.

Petr Boržik, owner of BOBR thermowear:
During the period of our repeated presence at SPORT Life, the trade show has changed a lot. We as well have adjusted ourselves to our customers. The trade show used to focus on hiking and tourism, nowadays, it is bikers and cyclist who prevail, and so we had to start manufacturing socks for a completely different target group. In comparison to the past, there are not as many traders at our stand as before, on the other hand, it is nice to meet our end customers because they keep on coming back and provide us with feedback regarding our products. Dancers are a beautiful diversification of the trade show, they create the atmosphere and I would say that they have attracted a great number of people. Sports trade fair should be mainly about life, peace and ease.

Ivor Sekanina, representative of HUDY sport:
One part of our stand presents new items for winter season that we are introducing in our network of HUDY shops – outdoor garments and mountain climbing equipment. The other part presents Goretex, both the brand and the material of which the top outdoor clothes that can be found in our assortment is made. There were many people who visited us, especially on Saturday; our stand was thronged by people, so our assessment is positive entirely.

Jaroslav Soukup, bronze medalist at the 2012 World Championship in Biathlon:
I have come to the trade show to present biathlon as a winter sport which is interesting by comprising of two disciplines, and to invite visitors to Nové Město na Moravě, where Biathlon World Championship 2012 will be held in February. I love what I see here in the B exhibiting hall, this is what SPORT Life is about – many various sports are being presented and you can see lots of children moving everywhere.

Heinrich Vik, joint owner of Caravan Metropol:
Each exhibition is important, and the ones taking place in autumn have its foundation in people having enough time to decide and choose a camper or a caravan that would perfectly meet their requirements. There are not so many people at the trade show this year, perhaps the weather is too nice and people opted for enjoying Indian summer. This means, however, that we have had mainly people who are seriously interested in purchasing. Choosing and final decision usually takes longer time, people do not normally make their decision at the trade show. As far as our experience goes, from business perspective, our presence in Brno bears fruit for a long, long time.

Patrik Burian, managing director of Burimex:
We have brought English campers and caravans to Brno for the first time. These machines overtake their competition by marvellous design, above standard equipment and interesting prices, thus making many people excited and keen. Still, we shall see the results after the show has ended. We are also selling accessories for caravans and equipment for camping which have been welcomed warmly. So far, I can say, I am very positive about our presentation.

Pavel Myslil, J.M. Trade:
Optically, there are not as many people as before, but people who visit our stand, know what they are looking for and why they are here. Therefore, we have enough time to attend to real customers, which is good. And we can say that there were plenty of those interested in campers, many of them serious about purchasing one. We have even signed a few purchase orders.

Michal Hruška, manufacturer of the first Czech MiniCamper:
As I expected, our newcomer is what people are interested in. I am satisfied that the result of our presence here is heaps of contacts to people who wish to consult us about specific model adjustments of their minicampers. I am satisfied with our presence, it has met my expectations. And now we are looking forward to much work.

Vlastimil Harapes, the legend of Czech ballet:
I was pleased by the number of people at the dance expo. I led two courses, one for adults, the other one for kids – and there were lots of people interested in both of them. I spent two pleasant days in Brno, I met lots of colleagues, and it all ended with a successful signing sessions during which I signed hundreds of pictures. I am absolutely satisfied both with the atmosphere here, and the organisation of the show. And I am looking forward to the next year!

Yemi A.D., dancer and choreographer:
I love it here Dance Life Expo a lot. Many people came, they could see many styles. And this is what I love, for it means meeting of people. Those who dance standard dances, streetdancers and ballet dancers are otherwise pretty far apart from each other, however, this weekend, Dance Life Expo has united them under one roof. We have brought here twenty people and tried to include as much as possible, so that we could provide people with presentation as broad as possible. I reckon that the next year will be even better.

The next year of SPORT Life, Bike Brno, Caravaning Brno and Dance Life Expo trade shows shall be held in November 2013.