CMT 2023 in Stuttgart exceeded all expectations

Thursday, 26 January 2023 08:09
Written by Portal Editor

Caravanning and tourism offer in combination with innovations ensure satisfied visitors.

Finally, the entire caravanning and tourism portfolio under one roof again, finally time for personal talks and advice at the stands, finally CMT again. The Stuttgart Holiday Fair has once again lived up to its status as the world's largest consumer fair for tourism and leisure. "Our expectations have been exceeded by far," says Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart. “We were able to welcome 265,000 visitors to our site. Our exhibitors were also very satisfied: people not only looked and compared, but also bought and ordered. This CMT is one of the best we have ever experienced.”

In addition to the popular subsidiary trade fairs, cycling and hiking trips, golf and wellness trips, and cruise and ship trips, "there was a lot that was new this time," says Guido von Vacano, Member of the Management Board at Messe Stuttgart Innovative strength of the CMT. "The 'Future Tourism' network meeting, the 'Sustainable Travel Destination' award from TourCert, the new award from the Corps Touristique for international understanding and the kick-off event for tourism cooperation between Baden-Württemberg and the Grand Est region show that that we deal with future topics and also implement them." In addition, the cycling and hiking trips were extended by one day - until Monday. That was the right decision. "We were also pleased that Hall 9 was well attended on this day," reports von Vacano.

Bicycle trips and hiking are still on the rise

On the first CMT weekend, the focus of interest was on cycling and hiking trips. Cycling and hiking tourism is on the road to success and is enjoying growing popularity. The exhibitors were able to convince themselves of this. They praised a knowledgeable, interested audience that specifically asked about current trends, undiscovered travel regions for hiking and cycling trips, or inquired about the right accessories and suitable clothing.

Erik Neumeyer, Deputy Managing Director of the German Hiking Association: “At the CMT we honor the quality trails ‘Wanderbares Deutschland’ – a seal of quality for particularly attractive, well-maintained and exciting hiking trails. We have been to the CMT very often and we like being here because you meet an incredible number of people, especially from southern Germany, and many exhibitors with whom you can exchange ideas. After a two-year hiatus, demand is huge this year and we feel people have a lot of catching up to do. Everyone is happy that the CMT is now taking place in person again, and there is a very positive mood. I'm sure we'll be there again next year."

Anja Knaus, PR and Media at Flyer E-Bikes: “We are at the CMT again, the subject of e-bikes and travel goes well together. There are many customers who use their e-bikes to travel. We are totally happy that we can go to trade fairs again. Live communication is important to us. Especially the focus on cycling and hiking is ideal for us. In principle, we are like regular guests and will certainly be there again next year.”

Caravanning industry: Demand in all areas

The CMT 2023 was a huge success for the caravanning sector, sums up Hermann Pfaff, President of the Caravaning Industry Association CIVD. "There were not just spectators here, but also genuinely interested parties." For the caravanning industry, the CMT is also an important indicator for the start of the new season. "Our appearance was very well received by the visitors, it was a successful start to the new year!" Matthias Euch, member of the executive committee of the German Caravaning Trade Association, agreed: "It was fantastic how many visitors were here, we had an incredible number of first contacts. In all areas of caravanning, in all vehicle categories, in rentals and in the aftersales segment, the providers were happy about the great interest - and were able to achieve nice deals. We also welcome the product innovations and digital solutions that are getting better and better and make life easier for retailers.”

Diving fans appreciate the combination of interdive and holiday offers

For the first time the international diving fair Interdive took place as part of the CMT. The organizers were enthusiastic about the great response. Marketing Manager Monika Richter: “Divers are multi-sport enthusiasts who love to travel, so the CMT was exactly the right setting. They are happy to accept the new segment and also use the entire offer of the holiday fair.” Another highlight was the thermals in the rooms of the ICS International Congress Center Stuttgart. Fans and exhibitors from the paragliding and hang-gliding industry met here.

Finally, the Baden-Württemberg Tourism Heroes award was also presented as part of the CMT. "In 2022, due to the pandemic, we were unable to honor our tourism heroes with dignity. Now we had the chance to greet both the heroes of that year and this year on stage," says Bleinroth. It's nice to see how many people are committed to tourism in Baden-Württemberg.

High recommendation for CMT

The trade fair visitors appreciate the extensive supporting program and the wide range of offers on the fully booked site. They give the CMT a grade of 2. No wonder that 96 percent of the visitors surveyed said they would recommend the trade fair to friends and relatives. On average, visitors stay at the CMT for five hours to obtain information from the exhibitors and to inspect the 1,200 vehicles on display. Almost a quarter of the visitors travel more than 100 kilometers to Stuttgart. 11 percent travel from Bavaria alone. The interest of the visitors is balanced at around 60 percent for the tourist offers as well as for the products in the camping and caravanning area (multiple answers possible).

The mobile home parking space and the additional parking spaces in the "Motel CMT" are also highly frequented: the trade fair registered a record number of 9667 overnight vehicles.

Partners are completely satisfied

The CMT partner country, Mongolia, rates its presence at the trade fair as a success. "We are very happy that we were able to be here as a partner country," says Badamkhorol Samdandamba. The founder of the Mongolian Center in Freiburg and cultural ambassador for Mongolia emphasizes the benefit for guests and hosts: “We were able to present our country and our diverse culture at the CMT. Many people now want to travel to Mongolia, but the Mongolians have also learned a lot about Germany through the CMT.” The great interest in the travel destination 8,000 kilometers away was also expressed in specific booking inquiries, as Esentsengel Sukhee, owner of the tour operator Mongolia Adventure Outfitters, reported.

The two managing directors Myriam Geiser and Xenia Jauker of the CMT partner region National Park Region Black Forest are also happy about the successful course of the trade fair. “The Black Forest is present at many trade fairs. Here we see that the interest in our region is unbroken. We had numerous high-quality discussions. Many visitors already knew the national park region and inquired about specific offers and activities. It was a very successful CMT for us.”

BUGA - more than just a flower show

Carina Drexler, responsible for marketing and communication at the Federal Horticultural Show BUGA 2023 Mannheim, also emphasizes the high quality of the visitors: “We had many interested and very open-minded visitors at the stand who asked specific questions. Here we had the opportunity to present ourselves with Mannheim musicians on the atrium stage. Overall, the response is very positive for us.” This year, the BUGA is the cultural partner of the CMT.

Constanze Bröhmer, Managing Director of the State Working Group on Farm Holidays in Baden-Württemberg e.V., draws a positive balance. Combining the topic of country holidays with the presentation of regional products was very well received by the visitors. “The audience was interested, enthusiastic and hungry for travel. A varied day at the trade fair was gladly ended with a glass of wine, a juice spritzer from local orchards or a tasting.”

Caravanning industry: Demand in all areas

The CMT 2023 was a huge success for the caravanning sector, sums up Hermann Pfaff, President of the Caravaning Industry Association CIVD. "There were not just spectators here, but also genuinely interested parties." For the caravanning industry, the CMT is also an important indicator for the start of the new season. "Our appearance was very well received by the visitors, it was a successful start to the new year!" Matthias Euch, member of the executive committee of the German Caravaning Trade Association, agreed: "It was fantastic how many visitors were here , we had an incredible number of first contacts. In all areas of caravanning, in all vehicle categories, in rentals and in the aftersales segment, the providers were happy about the great interest - and were able to achieve nice deals. We also welcome the product innovations and digital solutions that are getting better and better and make life easier for retailers.”

Subsidiary fairs of CMT in high demand

Exhibitors at the subsidiary fairs Golf and Wellness Travel and Cruises and Ship Travel, which will be presenting their new products and offers in Hall 9 from Thursday to Sunday, are extremely satisfied with how the fair went. Otto Leibfritz, President of the Baden-Württemberg Golf Association: “We are at the CMT with eleven clubs and two partners and are very satisfied with our appearance. Our stand arrangement in the form of an island was well received by the trade fair visitors.

We wanted to make golf an experience and actively involve the guests with offers for old and young, which has been a success. We were also able to answer many questions and provide information, for example about the work of our environmental committee or the 'golf course habitat' initiative. Last but not least, a trade fair appearance serves to retain members and we were also successful at the CMT in this respect." Beate Proske, project manager of the Biohacking brand, Kur- und Bäder GmbH Bad Dürrheim can only agree: "With our innovative offer, we were able to present ourselves at the Present CMT well and set new impulses for health. From the beginning to the end of the trade fair, the response from the public was outstanding. If you want to exhibit, the CMT is the very best address.”

For Yehia Semeda from Nicko Cruises, “demand is picking up again significantly. We are almost at the same level as in 2020. The number of calls multiplied when the trade fair started, almost all of them were bookings, because our trade fair discount was attractive and was gladly taken advantage of. Environmentally conscious customers are happy that we now completely do without heavy fuel oil. We are very satisfied.” Hannes Schnitzer, Managing Director of Golf in Südtirol: “We are very satisfied with the trade fair. We were surprised that there were already many visitors on Thursday and Friday. Rarely have we distributed so many brochures. We plan to exhibit again next year."