Over 234,000 visitors at The Holiday Exhibition / Exhibitors reported interesting discussions, as well as sales and bookings
There’s nothing better than direct contact, personal discussions and on-site comparisons: that became clear at CMT, the world’s largest consumer show for tourism and leisure. „We can look back on a successful holiday exhibition,” said Roland Bleinroth, President and CEO of Messe Stuttgart. „We welcomed over 234,000 visitors to the Stuttgart Trade Fair Center. The exhibitors were happy: they said that they held first-class discussions and were able to sell holidays and vehicles.”
According to Bleinroth, CMT is a real mood lifter in the winter months. There was only one downer: „The weather conditions and the railway line closure proved unfavourable for us. However, those aspects did not dampen the great atmosphere in the exhibition halls,” said the President of Messe Stuttgart. This was also clearly demonstrated by the figures from a survey conducted during CMT. The Holiday Exhibition was awarded the school mark 1.9 in the survey. 96 per cent of the surveyed visitors said that they would also recommend the event to friends and members of their family. That’s not surprising in view of such a wide variety of holidays with 1,600 exhibitors and 1,300 vehicles. The accompanying programme featuring a holiday cinema, show performances and a church service also catered to every taste.
Success for the featured country the Philippines and the culinary partner Swabian Alb
Daks Gonzales, Director for Central Europe at the Philippine Tourist Office in Frankfurt, looked back positively at the participation in CMT by the featured country the Philippines. „The large number of presentation areas made it possible for us to turn our motto ‘Love the culture, love the nature, love the adventure’ into a real experience,” he said. Gonzales is certain that the island state will welcome more German visitors in future after its successful participation in CMT. The participation by the culinary partner Swabian Alb in CMT was also a total success. According to Mike Münzing, Managing Director of the Swabian Alb Tourism Association, the region enjoyed an unprecedented reception and awareness during CMT.
The desire to drive away in a recreational vehicle is unabated
It also became clear in the halls how much interest there is in caravaning. New vehicles were exhibited, accessories were offered and the latest technology in the industry was presented. The new features also included an area which was explicitly devoted to the topics of new work and vehicles. The exhibitors from the caravaning industry looked back on interesting discussions. „On the whole, we can conclude that both the number and, fortunately, the quality of the discussions increased,” said Bernd Wuschack, Director for Sales, Marketing and Customer Service at Carthago. Wolfgang Speck, Chairman of the Board of Management at Knaus Tabbert, made some similar positive comments: „The keen interest in our recreational vehicles exceeded our expectations. CMT is an important indicator for our company at the start of the year.” „The response on our stand was very positive. We were spoken to by many customers who go on holiday with a dog,” said Janina Jörissen, Stand Manager at Dünencamping Amrum. The theme day „Holidays with a dog” focused on precisely this area of interest on 17 January. Dog owners were able to obtain tips and tricks about holidays with their four legged friends on different stands and during talks.
Concrete booking inquiries directly after a consultation
The Travel Analysis by the Research Association for Holidays and Travel (FUR) confirmed that the Germans are still very keen on travelling. The exhibitors in the tourism halls were also satisfied. „Our office received a large number of concrete booking inquiries during the course of CMT. „We were very satisfied with our attendance at the exhibition,” said Inga Dockendorf. According to the Managing Director of Island Erlebnisreisen , Iceland is booming as a holiday destination and there was great interest in the country at CMT. The mood on the stand of the Europa Park was also extremely positive. „We were very satisfied with CMT, which was also one of the most important exhibitions for our company to address end customers in 2024,” said Maximilian Zwick, Marketing Manager at the Europa Park.
Action, golf and recreation: renewed success for the subsidiary shows
CMT was again traditionally accompanied by its subsidiary shows, i.e. Cycling & Hiking Holidays, Golf & Wellness Holidays, and Cruises & Ship Travel. Everything revolved around outdoor experiences in Hall 9 from 13 to 15 January. Interested visitors were able to look at different e-bikes on the stand of Husqvarna E-Bicycles. Andreas Rabe, Sales Representative in the company, drew some conclusions: „We took part in CMT for the first time. The mood was excellent while the visitors were well-informed and also specifically asked questions about certain topics.” Suitable destinations, for example the Black Forest, were also presented during the subsidiary show Cycling & Hiking Holidays. „This year there was great demand for long-distance hiking paths – i.e. stages actually lasting several days where people can also become deeply immersed in the region,” said Sascha Hotz, Head of Theme Management at the company Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH. „The great thing about CMT is that many visitors to the stand are well-known faces.”
Hall 9 was devoted to the topics of cruises, golf and wellness from 18 to 21 January. The golf section, in particular, was very well-equipped thanks to the golf supplier All4Golf, a driving range and golf holiday operators such as Golf in Austria. Otto Leibfritz, President of the Baden-Württemberg Golf Association, concluded: „We experienced here a fantastic relaunch of this golf exhibition – with unprecedented numbers of visitors.” There was also great interest in the cruise section. Reinhard Tanner is the Managing Director of Polaris Tours which specialises in expedition cruises. „The visitors were people who not only collect catalogues, but were specifically interested in our holidays,” he said.
CMT: Meeting point for trade visitors
CMT also proved again this year that it is more than a consumer show. It is also a platform for trade visitors. Whether the „RadRunde” Cycling Tourism Conference, the Baden-Württemberg Tourism Day or the Dolde Medien European Innovation Award, the trade visitors got their money’s worth thanks to an extended programme for them. Another new feature this year was the CMT Business Ticket with access to the Business Lounge, a workstation and other benefits. That went down very well.
Despite all the holiday inspirations, two topics were not ignored: international understanding and sustainability. For example, a keynote speech was given on the topic of sustainable winter tourism. The CT Award was presented to projects which unite people while an information stand focused on environmentally-friendly caravaning holidays.
CMT 2025 will be held in Stuttgart from 18 to 26 January 2025.
Photo: Marian Mocanu/www.marianmocanu.ro
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