International Dealer News IDN 140 December 2017 / January 2018 | Page 16

This year’s EICMA marked a clear turning point of the fortunes and trends in the Italian market, and for EICMA, hopefully, it is a foundation for continued expo and Italian market growth for years to come … he attendance statistics issued by EICMA are notoriously “loose”, shall we say; indeed, it has been a characteristic of all Italian show organisers for decades. The trade association does not always issue attendance figures (which is usually a sign that visitor or exhibitor numbers, or both, were down) and when it does, the use of statistics is so selective and so inconsistent that it makes year-to-year comparisons difficult. In the specific case of EICMA there were next to no statistics issued for 2016, and no more than three or four expo news releases have been made at all in the 12-month cycle since – those that have been made have been ‘random’ in the content at best! However, after three days at EICMA, this year three facts were obvious. First, for the first time in a decade the show had a really positive vibe, reflecting the fact that the T 16 domestic Italian market and the vendors who sell there had definitely got smiles on their faces at long last. Ironically in a year that has been a tad ‘tricky’ elsewhere in Europe, but regardless, the parts, accessory and apparel sectors appear to be in good shape even if there is still oversupply - but when +24% increase in attendance haven’t there been more vendors than any national market or specialty discipline could realistically support? Second, either there is someone new planning the use of space, or exhibitor numbers were genuinely up this year. The show occupied most of seven halls, with much less vacant space than has been the case INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY 2018 Words & pictures by Robin Bradley [email protected] Additional photography by Sonja Wallace, EICMA press office & Companies exhibiting for the past six or seven years. Third, and I guess it is largely because the organisers continue to be hopeless at, and have no interest or incentive in “policing” the theoretically targeted specialist admittance that is supposed to characterise the Tuesday and Wednesday, the attendance during the first three days was certainly up. Reports suggest that the show was full on Friday, Saturday and Sunday too. It therefore came as no surprise that a full attendance news release was made within 48 hours of the show closing its doors and one that, for once, backed up the hyperbole with some (still carefully managed) attendance statistics – so in recognition of a successful week for the motorcycle industry in Italy, here are the primary take-aways from their release. This was the 75th EICMA, staged in its 103rd year, and the organisers claim it ‘registered’ “absolute records” and that it “confirms exponential growth with all the indicators positive. A great success with