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T H E O N LY M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E W O R L D W I D E V- T W I N PA R T S , A C C E S S O RY A N D P E R F O R M A N C E I N D U S T RY
BIG BIKE EUROPE concept proven as first show is acclaimed for quality HE first annual Big Bike Europe international aftermarket industry expo has been judged a success by exhibitors, customizers and visitors alike, and one that provides a startpoint from which the event can be grown in the future. Staged at Essen in Germany on May 10, 11 and 12th, the overwhelming reaction was of “concept proven” with those who saw the event agreeing that a viable start-point had been achieved for an important new expo concept and opportunity. As expected for a first year event in a downturn, the attendance was low (see Comment and Expo Review features elsewhere in this edition of AMD Magazine), but most exhibitors reported that the quality of the attendance, in dealer buying power and consumer knowledge terms, was enough to point to a promising future for the event. Staging the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building for the first time in Europe, the
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builder/competitor community were unanimous in their praise of Big Bike Europe as a host event, saying that the organisation of the event was excellent, the quality of the venue superb, and standard of the bikes on show the best seen in Europe for several years. Big Bike Europe was universally acclaimed as setting a new bar in terms of the calibre of business opportunity and presentation it offered, with a growing appreciation that in order to reach the customers of tomorrow the custom industry needs to be able to sell itself in a suitably professional environment that speaks the language of the premium buyer. The need for an international “headquarters expo” had become apparent in recent years and the show has now been conclusively accepted as proving and delivering on that requirement. BBE attracted dealers, custom shops and importers/ distributors from some 20 plus different countries in Europe and further afield. While the largest dealer
attendance was from Germany, the total number of dealers from other countries exceeded the domestic German attendance. There was a widespread appreciation among exhibitors that the quality of trade and public visitor that the BBE formula will attract brings a valuable addition to the international expo calendar. In public attendance terms the date was widely cited as being a factor in keeping numbers to the lower end of first year expectations, coinciding as it did with a German public holiday and Mother’s Day long weekend. However a projected minimum of around 200 attending dealers and distributor/importers had been forecast as an acceptable first year start-point trade attendance level, and that was, almost exactly, what the show pulled. With a move to the originally intended second weekend of April date in 2014 (April 11th, 12th, 13th), which will be better for dealers especially, there is now the opportunity to develop attendance of all kinds, now that the overall concept and content of the event is in-play.
JUNE 2013
ISSUE #167
NEWS
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
FIRST-QUARTER
EARNINGS
RISE
PRODUCTS
2013 SHOW REVIEW 2013 WORLD
CHAMPS
REVIEW PLUS- POSTER PULL-OUT
Quality is the message! Quality organisation, quality staging, and quality visitors ... a message that is a foundation for growth.