Courageous decisions are sometimes necessary, said Christian Schneidermeier, who took up his duties as director of the European Outdoor Group (EOG) at the beginning of February. Schneidermeier certainly did not expect his first official decision to be about a cancellation, but the 2025 edition of the OutDoor by Ispo trade show, scheduled on May 19-21 in Munich, will not take place.
OutDoor by ISPO
“Despite our most strenuous efforts in rethinking the show format and in assessing and discussing its future, our current registration rate does not allow us to achieve the goals set for the 2025 edition of the OutDoor trade show. Having failed to achieve our goals, i.e. a 20% increase in exhibitors and visitors, I consider cancelling the event this year more as an opportunity. At the same time, our strategic partnership with Messe München will be strengthened in the future,” said Schneidermeier.
Meanwhile, Messe München recently made some organisational changes. Harald Kirchschlager, head of strategy and development, has taken overall charge of the Ispo Group. “We have analysed the facts, and it was clear that we have failed to obtain what we had planned. We also see an opportunity for a comprehensive overhaul. We can now concentrate all the necessary resources on continuing to strengthen Ispo Munich as the central global hub for the sports and outdoor apparel and equipment industry. Under the leadership of show director Lena Haushofer, we will resolutely continue our work along this path,” said Kirchschlager.
For EOG, 2025 is set to be a year of transformation. After putting the European Outdoor Summit on hold, and with the upcoming elections of the board of directors’ members and president, cancelling OutDoor by Ispo was logical step.
“We will take advantage of 2025 to calmly carry out the assessments needed to be able to get back on track in 2026 – with new appointments to the steering committee, fresh ideas and compelling formats that will offer real added value to industry participants,” said Schneidermeier describing the current situation at EOG.
One of his tasks will be to develop new formats for both Ispo and OutDoor, within the framework of the strategic partnership between EOG and Messe München.
