Leading international sportswear trade show Ispo is gearing up for its biggest edition yet, set to boast over 2500 exhibitors across eight halls, when it opens its doors on January 26.

Messe München, the show’s organizer, welcomed 2344 and 2481 exhibitors in 2012 and 2013 respectively. For January 2013, more than 80,000 show-goers came through the doors at the event, with 85% of them foreigners.

In terms of brands present at the show, all the big names have signed up including Berghaus, Columbia, Jack Wolfskin and The North Face. Even label’s such as Billabong and Quiksilver will be present, despite the delicate state of the board sport market segment. Notable absences from the show this year are Rip Curl and Lafuma.

The format of the show will remain largely the same with sectors for Outdoor, Ski and Action Sports, as well as dedicated areas for Performance, Sportstyle, IspoVision, Sourcing, Health/Fitness and Textrends/Ispo Brand News.

By launching Ispo Open Innovation and Ispo Community at the end of last year, Messe München is looking ahead and trying to position itself as not only a trade show organizer, but also a service provider for the industry. Ispo Open Innovation is a B2B platform created to help reduce both the costs and time it takes to develop a new product. As for Ispo Community, the service allows its 30,000 members to discover and comment on products featured at the show, which then enables brand to better prepare future launches.

Bruno Joly (English version by Lauren Walker)