6 minute read
The place to be
As the industry looks forward to the first in-person Intertraffic Amsterdam for four years, Joyce de Winter, exhibition director for the event, reflects on how the industry has evolved and picks notto-be-missed highlights to watch out for at the 2022 gathering
The last two years has been hugely challenging for the whole world as businesses navigate the Covid pandemic. But the transport industry has proved more resilient than most, with new traffic management methods and infrastructure catering for the active-travel boom and on-demand public transit seeing a surge in popularity. As Joyce de Winter looks forward to the first in-person Intertraffic Amsterdam for four years, she reflects on how the mobility sector has changed, with Covid-19 forcing society to accelerate smart mobility solutions.
“Covid has disrupted mobility worldwide,” she says. “The various lockdown periods and travel restrictions have forced society to rethink mobility. Travellers are now much more focused on healthy, safe and hygienic transport, and sharing mobility has less focus, with private cars proving popular again. This will accelerate the introduction of automated and autonomous driving.”
Digitialisation is also accelerating, and de Winter notes that data-driven solutions have become key for sustainable and responsible mobility, while on-demand mobility services are becoming an important way for travelers to plan routes.
“These developments will bring nextgeneration themes and new key players to our show floor,” de Winter continues. “Players coming from other markets, such as data, telecoms and IT, are set to take a leading role in where our industry is going. Furthermore, new business models and collaborations will evolve. This might even mean that companies from the traditional industry who are not adapting their business models toward a connected and data-driven era, might decline.
“It’s also important to not forget about the startup industry: they bring us the next-generation of innovative solutions. Collaboration with start-ups will keep us focused on developing new business models to stay in the game.”
Intertraffic Amsterdam in numbers
• 29 March to 1 April 2022 • 13 halls showcasing the latest mobility trends, products, and services • 900+ exhibitors, including market leaders, game changes and start-ups • 100+ nationalities represented • 120+ experts speaking as part of the extensive summit program, which includes interactive theatre sessions, demos, and presentations Show highlights Next-generation themes are key highlights to watch for at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2022. “They form a key part of our broad summit programme,” says de Winter. “I am also looking forward to engaging in the match-making platform we have developed, called Intertraffic Connect, which could lead to new collaborations in the industry.”
The summit programme covers everything from big data, CAVs and MaaS, to road safety, traffic management and urban parking. For de Winter, the main highlight will be the simple fact that the event will be live again.
“The in-person interaction and breathing and feeling the dynamic atmosphere cannot be replicated by the virtual events we all experience during Covid-19,” she says. “Virtual events make collaboration and spontaneous interactions more difficult, and people can become disengaged. As human beings we communicate with each other in many ways beyond just voice. Body language and facial expressions, for example, are part of our communication and they alone can lead to discussions. When people meet each
100 The approximate number of different nationalities that will be represented at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2022
other in person, they are more likely to contribute to the conversation and this is important for building strong relationships, and for loyalty and trust.”
De Winter notes that “coincidental encounters” are another important benefit of in-person events. “These kinds of encounters are highly appreciated by both visitors and exhibitors because they could lead to new business and opportunities. This cannot be replaced by a 2D virtual meeting,” she adds. Health and safety The Intertraffic team has spent a lot of time and effort making sure that the event can go ahead in the safest way possible. The event will comply will all the latest official Covid-19 protocols and the organizers are asking for all attendees to either have proof of vaccination or show a valid negative test or proof of recovery. The relevant checks will be carried out by a team at the entrance.
“Because of Covid-19 we will be taking extra precautions to provide a safe and secure event,” says de Winter. “The safety of our audience is a key focus, and we will implement all the necessary measures based on whatever the government guidelines are at the time of the show. This will help ensure the event goes ahead and that everyone from the Intertraffic community can see each other again in person.”
50th anniversary
The 2022 edition of Intertraffic is the 50th anniversary of the Intertraffic brand. The event started as a local fair back in 1972 but has since become a global event, attracting professionals from around the world. One of the keys to success for the Intertraffic brand is its ability to change with the times.
“This year, Intertraffic Amsterdam has a brand new floor layout,” says de Winter, “We redefined our show segments and ordered them logically and efficiently to create a natural flow and also to allow for expansion in certain areas. The number of on-floor summit theatres has gone up to three, with a wide variety of content sessions and demonstrations.
“Our Intertraffic Award content will also be running, but with brand new categories. The winners will be announced during the opening ceremony of the show. And finally, we are also introducing Intertraffic Connect. This is an online platform for all registered visitors to reach out to one another and preplan get-togethers during the show, browse through all the exhibitor offerings and add summit sessions to their agendas.”
Intertraffic Connect was developed after the team analyzed visitor feedback and found people were often frustrated they didn’t have time to do and see all the things that triggered their interest. “Intertraffic Connect is a smart tool for optimal and efficient preparation to map out your visit to the event. We will kick-off the launch of the platform in January 2022 with our preview called, All Eyes on Intertraffic Amsterdam. This is an engaging 30-minute video summary highlighting what visitors can expect in March 2022. Visitor registration opened in December 2021 and all pre-registered attendees will have access to the platform.” n
Left to right: Lars Kloppenburg, sales consultant; Kim Barend, event operations manager; Carola JansenYoung, senior brand marketing manager; Joyce de Winter, exhibition director; Touria Abahai, brand marketing manager; Marijke Jansen, event operations manager; Rogier Peijster senior sales consultant; Fleur Kaldenberg, content and online community marketeer; Carina Corado de Araújo, brand marketing intern
Intertraffic Mexico City 2022
“ Our show in Mexico will be held from November 8-10, 2022,” says Joyce de Winter, exhibition director at Intertraffic. “We ran a show in November 2021 and as our Mexico event is biennial, originally the following edition would be 2023, but we feel that would be too long a gap for all companies that couldn’t attend because of travel restrictions this year.”
According to de Winter, Mexico offers the worldwide traffic technology and mobility industry so many interesting business opportunities on things like road safety, traffic congestion, and smart urban mobility. “We want to offer these opportunities to our international community without a two-year wait,” she adds.
“Our 2022 edition will have a special focus on future intelligent mobility. The 2021 show brought exhibitors a high-quality audience like mayors, project leaders and decision makers from relevant public and private organizations. Across the board we see that the pandemic accelerated the mobility transition which has sparked an even bigger interest in acquiring knowledge and hearing about lessons learned and recent best practices,” de Winter concludes.
