Asia Outdoor brings breath of fresh air

For the ninth time, the international outdoor fair Asia Outdoor took place from 23-27 July 2014 in Nanjing, China and

attracted almost 17,300 trade visitors and more than 610 exhibitors, among them first-timers like Gore Tex, Mountain Hardware, Primaloft, Asics, Technica, Salomon, Suunto, Columbia, Odlo, Skins and Li Ning.

China’s core outdoor brands rose by 16.2 percent in 2013 and total sales in the industry grew by 12.9 percent – from RMB 32.6 billion to RMB 36.8 billion (approx. 4.4 billion euros). After a phenomenal growth of the outdoor industry of 43.1 percent in 2012, market growth came down to 20.4 percent. “This is a key step towards normalisation and consolidation, even if the vast imbalance from the previous years has not been reduced by a long shot”, commented chairman Knut Jaeger the official market report.

Apart from a higher level of order recorded at the show, significantly more retailers, buyers and opinion formers – even from isolated provinces – came to Nanjing. The provinces Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui and Guangdong provinces plus Beijing sent the largest contingents (in this order), followed by Shandong, Hunan, Hebei and Heilonjiang.

Special dedicated areas (‘villages’) featured the industry’s trending sports kayaking, rafting, diving and running and were well received among the participants. “With this great audience, several brands in the Village (Asics, Columbia, Tecnica, The North Face, Salomon, Suunto, Northland, Li Ning Adventure, Odlo, Smartwool, Skins, and Camelbak) ask for larger booths for 2015”, confirmed Yang Wei, CEO of URG-Ultra Runner Gear and village organiser.

Overall, exhibitors and participants were happy with the success of the show and agreed with the motto of China’s market leaders for the outdoor industry, which was “We need fresh air”. “I truly believe that Asia Outdoor is the most prominent show in China, and it's a good timing for us to show everybody and present Mountain Hardwear and also our products. Definitely it's a good platform for us,” summed up Andrew Law, senior product manager, Columbia HK & China.

The next Asia Outdoor, its tenth jubilee edition, will take place from 23-26 July, 2015.